terrorism as an instrument of state policy

• • Iran participation in conflict has not been direct, facilitated or taken part by groups who, supported by Iran, call themselves the ‘Axis of Resistance’.
• Hezbollah

  • Hezbollah is an Iran-backed group formed to fight Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon. 
  • As of 2021, it’s leader Hassan Nasrallah said that the group had 100,000 fighters.
  • Iran and Hezbollah have maintained an alliance spanning four decades.
  • Hezbollah has attacked Israel with sophisticated anti-ship and anti-armour weapons, which Western officials suspect are supplied by Iran
• • Iran continues to support Hezbollah with weaponry and more than $700 million per year, according to 2019 State Estimate Departments. 
  • In 2019, the leader of Hezbollah described how ‘our weapons have been developed in both quality and quantity’ and have the capacity to cause ‘tens of thousands of casualties’. 
  • The Australian Federal Government has labelled Hezbollah as a terrorist group,  stating that Australia will ‘not tolerate these Iran-backed terrorist’. 
• • In 2018, the US treasury department imposed sanctions on Iran’s central bank for allegedly funnelling money to Hezbollah.