From Russia, with blood? Is Russia helping Hezbollah in Syria? Illustrative. Photo Courtesy of UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras
Could the Axis of Evil get a new spoke in Russia? An advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader told reporters it would be their “ideal” for Russia to ally with the Islamic Republic, Syria, and Lebanese terror group Hezbollah. Russian news source Sputnik International quoted Ali Akbar Velayati as saying that “the prerequisites for the creation of such an alliance are prepared” as he noted his own nation’s ties with Russia on the Middle East issues.
However, the same day the Iranian official raised the specter of a Russian alliance with one of the world’s most dangerous terror groups, the highest ranking member of Russia’s parliament told Israel they “will not allow the transfer of weapons to an organization that wreaks destruction and death,” according to a press release on the website of the Israeli Knesset. Chairwoman of the Russian Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko, who is the highest-ranking Russian official after their president and prime minister, was visiting Israel on Wednesday.
Russia’s intensive military involvement in Syria—not to mention their ties to both Syria and Iran—puts them in an important role when it comes to Hezbollah.
Speaker of the Israeli Parliament, or Knesset, Yuli-Yoel Edelstein commented to the press during Matviyenko’s visit that the cooperation with Russia on Syria is “important, particularly in light of the fear that weapons will flow from Syria to Hezbollah.”
Israel has long sought to prevent advanced weapons from being transferred to Hezbollah, especially in the chaos of the Syrian civil war, and has reportedly bombed such weapons in Syria as part of that effort.
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, February 4, 2016)