THE CHIEF CULPRIT IN THE MIDDLE EAST IS IRAN AND HEZBOLLAH

Iran’s Hezbollah Terrorists

If we are speaking honestly about conflict in the Middle East, we need to start with the chief culprit: Iran and its partner militia, Hezbollah.

Iran and Hezbollah conspire together to destabilize the Middle East, and their actions are expanding. For decades, they have committed terrorist acts across the region.

Today, they prop up Bashar al-Assad’s brutality, fighting alongside his forces, adding to the killing of thousands of civilians and the misery of millions of refugees. They train deadly militias in Iraq and arm Houthi militants in Yemen.

While this [UN Security] Council has paid too little attention to this growing menace, the United States will not. We are going to speak up about Iran and Hezbollah, and we are going to act against their lawlessness.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah, a terrorist organization, uses towns to shield its arsenals of tens of thousands of illegal rockets. In Syria, Hezbollah controls territory on the ground. With Iran’s instructions, its militias stand side by side with Syrian troops as they slaughter the Syrian people.

Sometimes, Hezbollah is the one giving orders to Assad’s fighters. Hezbollah helped Assad starve and destroy Aleppo. According to press reports, when supporters of the Syrian regime die in battle, they sometimes come back with Hezbollah flags on their coffins. As one activist said recently, “Hezbollah designs it, and the Syrian regime wears it.”

They are reportedly even recruiting Syrian children to join pro-Hezbollah youth groups, so they can indoctrinate a new generation, in a new country, with its toxic ideology.

Hezbollah is a terrorist group spreading its influence across Middle East with the backing of a state sponsor. Iran is using Hezbollah to advance its regional aspirations. They are working together to expand extremist ideologies in the Middle East. That is a threat that should be dominating our discussion at this Security Council.

The United States is not waiting to respond. We have imposed targeted sanctions on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard and its Ministry of Intelligence for their support of the Assad regime. We recently designated for sanctions members of Iranian-backed terrorist organizations in Bahrain.

Iran remains a designated state sponsor of terror, and we continue to enforce all sanctions related to Iran’s support for terrorism and destabilizing activities in the region. The United States will work even harder with our partners and allies to disrupt Iran’s support for militant and terrorist groups.

All UN Member States must live up to their obligations. Iran’s ballistic missile tests defy Security Council resolutions and further undermine the stability in the region. We call on all states to fully implement Resolution 2231, which bans the transfer of weapons to and from Iran, as well as the arms embargoes against the Houthis in Resolution 2216 and for Lebanon in Resolution 1701.

The United States will work closely with our partners to document and address any actions that violate these resolutions. We must take a stand against Iran and Hezbollah’s illegal and dangerous behavior.

How one chooses to spend one’s time is an indication of one’s priorities. The same is true for the United Nations Security Council. The Israel-Palestinian issue is an important one, deserving of attention. But that is one issue that surely has no lack of attention around here.

The incredibly destructive nature of Iranian and Hezbollah activities throughout the Middle East demands much more of our attention. It should become this Council’s priority in the region.

Ambassador Nikki Haley is the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations.  In that capacity, she addressed the UN Security Council with these remarks on April 20, 2017.