Iranian influence in Lebanon. “Soft” influence efforts through “civil” aid associations with the potential to serve as a cover for intelligence–military activity. On 2 December, a “medical day” was held in several Palestinian camps in Lebanon at the joint initiative of the Iranian “Association of Muslim Doctors/ Messengers Without Borders Association,” together with Hezbollah’s “Islamic Health Organization.” The activity was presented as an expression of “solidarity” with the Palestinians and as a response to the reduction of some UNRWA assistance. The activity included medical check-ups and the provision of free medication in camps in the south (Tyre and Sidon), in Beirut (Borj al-Barajneh, Shatila, and Mar Elias), and in northern Lebanon (al-Beddaoui and Nahr al-Bared). Iranian speakers and Hezbollah members emphasized that the goal is to fill the vacuum created in health services in the camps.
The Iranian “Association of Muslim Doctors/ Messengers Without Borders Association” (in Arabic: جمعية الأطباء الرساليين بلا حدود الإيرانية and in Persian: پزشکان مسلمان بدون مرز) is a medical aid association that operates mainly in Lebanon and in Palestinian camps on behalf of the Islamic Republic, through free “medical days” and mobile clinics. A key figure in the association is Dr. Hamed Abadi, who served as the Iranian health attaché in Lebanon. This is not the only Iranian organization operating in Lebanon for the purpose of influence. On 30 November 2024, activity by personnel of the Iranian Red Crescent was observed in the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon. It is known that the Iranian Red Crescent also serves as a cover for Qods Force activity and its various units, and as a cover for the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS). The Ministry of Intelligence is one of the two main intelligence organizations in Iran, alongside the Intelligence Organization of the Revolutionary Guards. The Iranian pattern of activity of using civilian organizations, with an emphasis on humanitarian and medical organizations, for intelligence and military activity has been known since the Second Lebanon War (2006) and also from Syria, Yemen, and Iraq, and even from Bosnia in the 1990s.
One Response
Dear Tal,
The cancerous infiltration of parasitic NGO’S (aka No Good Operators) with numerous masks for their lies and theft cannot continue.
To restore health we must remove the disease. They are as cancerous tumors that rapidly grow until they are totally removed. Intensive monitoring of all funds is necessary.