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this is the story of the war that does a war that started over 40 years ago but has never officially been declared the war between Iran on the one side and the United States and Israel on the other is both ideological and strategic a conflict that stirs up passions resentment and hatred and word ever to escalate the entire Middle East would be affected very possibly triggering a new to understand this potential return of barbaric violence we must go back in time to unravel the Tangled threads of tragedy seek The elusive Truths Behind the dogmas and the certainties and tell the history of the War Began on February 1st 1979 aboard a flight from Paris to an old man is praying this is Ayatollah he is preparing to radically change the foreign it isn't easy to talk about the greatness of this figure one of his enemies once remarked that there had been no one like him for 800 years and there would be no one else like him for how many historically embodied the people's opposition to the Shah the all-powerful Monarch who had reigned over Iran for nearly 40 years in exile for 15 years the Ayatollah was finally returning home for the final battle alongside his people a revolution in the name of Shiite Islam a new era was about to begin in the a year before homaney's return an uprising began in Tehran in early 1978 hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets to challenge their ruler demonstrators had had enough of a ruler who bent on making Iran a great power sought to impose western-style modernity on them either willingly or by force they viewed it as an unfair and corrupt system that failed to meet the most basic needs of the population two countries had come to embody the imperialism condemned by the demonstrators two countries that supported the Shah's regime the United today it is difficult to imagine those two countries where the Iranian State's for us Iran was arguably our most important partner after the United States in terms of economic interests we undertook some Grand projects with them back in the 1950s Israel had made overtures to the Shah isolated in an Arab world that refused to acknowledge its existence the Hebrew state was looking for non-arab partners a little further afield in the Middle East Iran Persian pro-western built on a different kind of Islam to the other Arab countries stood out as a natural it's hard to imagine now but it was a very close-knit collaboration see that has the most advanced technology Washington too had chosen to make Iran the Cornerstone of its it all comes in so fast the high degree of military cooperation was designed to keep Tehran in the western camp also this was the time of the Cold War of course and Iran was a major arena of so yes the job was close to America because he felt that it needed the American support in confronting the USSR and maintaining his government in power for both Tel Aviv and Washington Iran under the Shah was an invaluable the key piece in the great middle but neither Israel nor America realized the extent and strength of an opposition that was destined to prevail when I spoke with the generals they would tell me look it's like measles we're seeing demonstrations at the moment that's the way it is the Shah has asked us to sort it out because he's the military Chief well we're sorting it out the blindness and incomprehension of a regime faced with such a powerful and determined Uprising was heading for that day Black Friday the Shaw's Army opened fire in the streets of Tehran the official death toll was 87 but according to opposition estimates it was closer to the monarchy had just revealed its true the Revolutionary process was underway and now there was no stopping it regarded as supporters of the Shah Israeli and American expatriates became targets and began to leave the country protesters attacked cafes restaurants Banks and Cinemas Western symbols of modernity associated with the stronghold Israel and the United States had on tearing down the monarchy breaking ties with Washington and Tel Aviv rejecting western-style modernity all of these objectives combined into a single battle gradually as the movement began to pick momentum and it was a movement in need of a leadership in need of a leader the person that fit the bill seemed to have I have to say that not only the different factions of Islamic movement followed out Allah and joined him but the other factions of the movement as the black nationalists like marxists all factions supported artullah Khomeini as the leader of the revolution the time had come for homini to realize his dream the introduction of a radical Doctrine and establishment of an Islamic Republic a theocracy wherein the ultimate power lay with a religious Authority the supreme leader him how many set foot on Iranian soil ready to deliver the Fatal blow to the no one could stand in his way it was shocking it was really shocking about 10 million people came to streets this was the biggest welcoming ceremony ever during the history as long as I remember 10 million people to come to and everybody looked at him as the and a man of God at the same time that he will rescue the country and we will have a paradise on the Earth the Lauer especially as the Shah weakened by ill health had Departed the country three weeks earlier 48 Hours of fighting in the streets of Tehran the overthrow of the Iranian monarchy the Shah had ruled over for 37 the revolution had achieved a total Ayatollah Khomeini was the country's new the revolutionaries immediately attacked the enemies identified by the new regime with the Israeli diplomatic Mission sacked and completely devastated its 33 members were the last Israelis still in they traveled in small groups to the Hilton hotel in central Tehran where a bus was waiting to take them to the airport a distance of some 17 kilometers 17 kilometers through a hotbed of 10 million Iranians on either side of the road all with tomatoes and eggs in the bus there was a driver and two Iranians with kalashnikovs our bus moved on they thought it was a revolutionary bus not a single egg or tomato was on reaching the airport they boarded the plane was about to take off boarded the plane the engine started and and all of a sudden it stopped the doors opened and armed revolutionaries barged in again I thought to myself what is it this time they wanted to carry out one final check I don't know what for and they closed the door we took off for as long as we were over Iranian territory the mood remains tense once we crossed the border the Israelis erupted into the Israelis Arch Enemy Yasser Arafat leader of the PLO the Palestinian Liberation Organization was arriving in Tehran welcomed like a true head of but had become leader of the PLO in 1969. its stated ambition was to create a Palestinian State independent of its from his base in Lebanon Arafat had been leading his fedain his Fighters into Guerrilla actions on the northern border now he had come to seek the support of hominy a man he hoped could help Palestinians achieve their independence definitely it changed completely the by inviting Arafat to Tehran hominy was sending a powerful message to the entire from now on Iran would be supporting the how many then took a provocative initiative instead of an Israeli diplomatic presence there would now be a Palestinian Embassy it was a clear with this gesture the Ayatollah was severing all links with Israel a state whose existence had no legitimacy for him any strategic alliance between Israel and Iran was now unquestionably a the United States recognized the young Islamic Republic but in Washington there was concern about what kind of relations would be possible with Iran's new rulers within the American government there some thought that committee was an force and it would be very difficult for us to to deal with I think most people still thought of Iran as a country that you know we could continue to get along with that even though the shaw was gone that uh you know we we would maintain relations we had our Embassy there then on November 4th 1979 hundreds of islamist students stormed the American Embassy taking 52 diplomats hostage how many was hesitant would he support these students and risk seriously jeopardizing relations with the United would he support them to keep control of when the hostage crisis occurred it made clear I think that we were largely at that point and the fact that the anger that was there and reflected in I think suddenly brought Iran to the top of the concerns that we had about our the last hostages were finally freed by supporting the students homaney made the U.S embassy hostage taking act two it became one of the founding myths of the new regime widely seen as the main reason for the breakdown in U.S Iranian a new Middle East was taking shape nothing would ever be the same again tehran's Ambitions and interests were on a collision course with Washington and a great Clash was looming on this day nearly 90 000 Israeli soldiers 1300 tanks and 1500 personnel carriers invaded Lebanon a country seemingly unconnected to the emerging confrontation between Iran Israel and torn apart by Civil War for many years Lebanon had become a regional Syria occupied a part of the country to the east but in the South especially the PLO was all-powerful the Palestinian organization had made the area its operational base for instigating deadly on June 6 1982 Tel Aviv launched operation peace for Galilee objective was spelled out loud and clear to seize control of Southern Lebanon and thus put an end to the Guerrilla operations launched by arafats fedain fight and destroy the terrorist that have been killing and murdering our people for years and years that is our Ariel Cerrone recently appointed minister of defense was leading the offensive to his fellow countrymen he was a hero who had been at the Forefront of every military Victory Israel had won since its Inception in 1948. once we or move immediately back we don't have enter any interest whatsoever to stay we don't need even one square inch of within a week Sharon had far exceeded the initial objectives as his army made Tehran looked on stupefied with Israeli troops advancing towards the Lebanese Capital the balance of power in the Middle East was radically shifting for Khomeini it was Unthinkable but how in an all-out war against Iraq after the attack launched by Saddam Hussein two years previously in September 1980. the young Islamic Republic would be forced to fight for its survival for eight long years in what became known as the at this stage the Iranian leader did not have the resources to open another front against Israel in Lebanon Khomeini issued a statement justifying this decision saying the roads which is Jerusalem goes through karbala which was a religious way of expressing a deeply strategic decision meaning first things the aspiration for Iran to play some role in The Liberation of Jerusalem comes after Iran has managed to defeat in Beirut heavy shelling was now falling on the west of the capital where Arafat and most of his troops had taken Refuge of the city was raised to the ground thousands were dead mostly civilians on August 21 1982 the Israeli Siege played a final visit to his West Beirut defeated Arafat departed Lebanon and went into Exile in Tunisia with ten they were replaced by a multinational Force composed mainly of U.S and French troops tasked with ensuring the safety for Sharon and prime minister Menachem begin the Palestinian question was they could now proceed with their secret objective of transforming Lebanon the multi-faith country would become a Christian State led by the Maronite minority this New Lebanon would be a powerful State and above all an ally but their plans would unknowingly awaken another Lebanese Community the largest in the country the Shiite community settled mainly in the East and in the south of Lebanon the Shiites had suffered directly from The Invasion and some resolved to take up arms and resist it was my belief in 1982 that Israel was and I supported the Palestinian cause I considered myself to be on their side Naim qasim was then 29 years old a chemistry teacher in Beirut he was leader of the Union of islamist educational associations a Shiite for us the thinking of Imam Khomeini Charmed perfectly with our deep beliefs that we got together with some other islamist groups and came to an agreement we went to Iran to Proclaim our willingness to pledge allegiance to imami to allow him to be our guide and and he gave us his Blessing it would allow him to better fight the it was an obvious Union given his old and deep ties with the Lebanese Shiites many of the leaders of revolution in Iran who became at top positions after the victory of revolution they had very good background in Lebanon before Revolution good connection with in the summer of 1982 Lebanese Shia leaders gathered in the city of balbec and the bekha Valley located in the east of the country to set up a new organization to fight Israel with the it called itself the Islamic resistance it officially took the name Hezbollah three years later in 1985. ask hezbollah's initial objectives were it was not only about offering armed resistance against the Israelis rather to end the occupation by any means necessary and drive them out of Lebanon to help the new organization Iran sent a few hundred revolutionary guards to the Baka Valley in the summer of 1982 these men were part of the elite body created at the birth of the Islamic Republic and charged with its defense it reported directly to the supreme leader while these elite soldiers did not actually fight they supplied weapons their presence also implicated another country whose Army had a presence in this part of Lebanon Syria to reach the bekha valley the men benefited from the help of the dictator hafez al-assad another fervent opponent of the state of this way hominy was establishing what would prove to be a strategic Alliance the partnership with Syria they began organizing the Hezbollah they began organizing an alliance with the Assad they began selling or giving away oil to Assad to buy a relationship with Assad because they began to think about what they call their strategic depth they wanted to have tools at their disposal to threaten Israel with which meant threatened the United States with and say if you hit us we can hit you back and then by creating the Hezbollah they hit both the Israelis and the what took root in the confines of the Baka Valley was a veritable system of a system set up by Iran with the help of Syria A system that created a new political entity Hezbollah a system which would later give rise to the powerful iran-syria Hezbollah axis but for the moment nobody was aware of the emergence of this system least of all the Americans and Israelis der kanoon Southern Lebanon about 10 kilometers from the Israeli border at around 6 30 a.m a white Peugeot stuffed with explosives leaves the village heading towards Tire the largest at the wheel is a young 18 year old resistant spider and member of Hezbollah Ahmad kasir had always been a quiet but he could not keep silent in the face he lived in Saudi Arabia at the time but returned to Lebanon after the Israeli our uncle tried to hold him back telling him that a war was raging but his reply was I know what I must do within a matter of moments this unknown young man would become a hero in the Shiite struggle against Israel what is known here as a Shaheed a martyr of the resistance he was about to commit a bold act that had no precedent in Lebanon one that was both religious and political in 1982 we inevitably lost in any direct confrontation with Israel we had no way we could only get somewhere by taking a new or effective approach Ahmad kasir drives along the main thoroughfare through Tire without hesitation he accelerates and crashes himself and his vehicle into a large residential complex the Israeli military headquarters for the whole of Southern Lebanon collapsed a seven-story building demolished at the time we had a grocery store entire I was on my way there when the explosion happened I'll never forget it there were pieces on fire everywhere the whole building was on fire the Jews had blocked the street we were proud that something was finally happening although we didn't know what we were occupied we were glad that some of the occupiers died but we were nervous because we didn't know who was behind it we didn't know it was my brother Ahmad I will never forget the 91 Israeli soldiers and 15 Lebanese Ariel Sharon was mystified how could something like this occur when the only known enemy the PLO had been crushed more than two months ago compiled by intelligence and academics there was almost no solid research on the universities had nothing either the multinational force in Lebanon led by the Americans and French was just as unaware as the Israeli military on October 23 1983 it was their turn to the two-ton bomb devastated the four-story building in which 200 Marines may have been sleeping when the explosion occurred shortly after 6 a.m the Americans lost 241 soldiers at the same moment a suicide bomber blew himself up in a building serving as a Barracks for the French forces 58 were a double strike claimed by a mysterious thought to be a figurehead for Hezbollah I think there is much that indicates that the Iranians did have a role if not a very important role in that do you have any indication about responsibility we're not going to point the finger until we're absolutely certain but I think the thing that does come through just the Insidious nature of Terror International Terror with this new attack the Hezbollah Shiites could no longer be ignored they saw themselves as a resistance movement against Israel and I recall uh Hezbollah seeming to be a domestic Factor and then by the mid-1980s it was clear that there was hostages going from Lebanon to Iran and so this was an emerging phenomenon from the start the Iranian Fighters were smart enough to understand that you cannot create an armed militia without the support of the local population the Iranians constructed what I would call a counter Society alongside the joins the Hezbollah Scouts after that he attends a Hezbollah high school and then he joins Hezbollah the Israelis were counting 600 men dead it was a price many were not prepared to the Israeli Army gradually lost control on June 6 1985 three years after the start of the invasion the Israeli Army pulled out preserving a security Zone in the South an area representing 10 percent of Lebanese territory the Israeli Army remained there for 15 years it saw this withdrawal as a humiliating while for Hezbollah it marked a first the Shiite organization chose the moment to claim responsibility for the destruction of the tire headquarters bombing the name of the Shaheed was also November 11th the day of the attack became the movement's official Martyrs Ayatollah Khomeini passed away in June 1989 he left a lasting Legacy the Shiite theocracy which he had founded 10 years earlier had been firmly established and the fight he initiated against Israel and the United States had with the help of Hezbollah profoundly changed the landscape in the Middle East but moving forward what would his
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