Notes on Soleimani’s Interview

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Indoctrination of hate; Lebanon & Hezbollah as a tool in the hands of the Iranians; The use of Human Shields as a military strategy

On October 1, 2019, an unusual interview with Major General Qasem Soleimani, head of Al-Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps was published in the Iranian media. While the headlines about Solimani’s interview dealt with his need to prove that he was alive, following an alleged Israeli plot to assassinate him, we would like to emphasize several interesting comments that arose in the interview:

1. Israel’s indoctrination as an aggressor, Israel, as the entity who had planned a war against Hezbollah in advance, Soleimani wrapped up this narrative with details of “an Israeli attempt to change the demographics in Lebanon, as it did with the Palestinians” and in fact he linked the demographic strata to the fight against terrorism and military capabilities. Something that Iran has been doing in Syria, yet Israel had never done in Lebanon.
2. The depth of the Shi’ite faith and its connection to the Islamic revolution’s values ​​- Soleimani explains that the Hezbollah combatant’s morale was low, following the Israeli bombings; “12-story buildings were leveled to the ground in one single shelling”. He further explained that once Nasrallah conveyed a message to Hezbollah combatants from the Iranian Supreme Leader, Khamenei, in which the later compared the clashes with Israel to a famous battle in the Islamic legacy – it contributed greatly in raising the combatant’s spirit and morale.
3. Iran is Hezbollah’s boss – to illustrate this image, Soleimani described the deep connection between Nasrallah and Khamenei, as a connection bonded by “the hidden words of God.” This would explain Hezbollah’s policy, which in many cases favors the Iranian interests over those of the Lebanese.

Soleimani also provided certain information regarding the Operational Concept of Hezbollah:

1. He revealed Hezbollah’s transitioning process from a routine situation to a state of emergency condition, and explained: Before Hezbollah takes any proactive action; its forces move into a state of alertness and preparedness in both offensive and defensive positions – in order to reduce losses. Soleimani also revealed a situation in which at a preliminary stage of the war, Hezbollah’s commanders were inside a situation room in a “regular building” in Beirut, whereby they later relocated to an underground military bunker.
2. In addition, referring to the attack on an Israeli Navy vessel, Soleimani explained that the launching site and the storage place were not the same. The missiles were launched from an exposed location while the storage location remained concealed.
3. The importance of Psychological Warfare alongside military operations – Soleimani talked about using the “phases theory”, meaning that at every stage of the war against Israel, Hezbollah revealed an additional surprise of military capability. In this context, Soleimani stated that Hezbollah’s surface to sea missiles now have a range of 300 km – That is to say, Hezbollah has “Yahunt” missiles that are more accurate and of a larger range.

The use of human shields as a core principle in Hezbollah’s tactics – Soleimani stated that in contrast to conventional wars, this war did not have a front line; instead, each position was a front battery. “Every point, every hill, every village, every house and every area served as a front line, and these batteries were not known or identified like in a conventional war”. He added.

*Photo from khamenei.ir.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/FWV9ar7ayyk”][/vc_column][/vc_row]