- Oct 17, 2011
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Iran, eager to disrupt U.S. and Israeli interests in the Middle East but wary of provoking a direct confrontation, is privately urging Hezbollah and other armed groups to exercise restraint against U.S. forces, according to officials in the region.
To emphasize the new directive, Iran has dispatched military leaders and diplomats across the region to meet with local officials and militia members.
“Iran is doing its utmost to prevent the expansion of the war and the escalation from reaching the point of no return,” said an Iraqi official with close ties to Iranian-backed forces there.
U.S. officials say the message might be having some effect. As of Saturday, Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria hadn’t attacked U.S. forces in more than 13 days, an unusual lull since the war in Gazabegan in October. The militants held their fire even after a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad killed a senior Kataib Hezbollah official.
Days after Kataib Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack that killed the three U.S. Army reservists, an Iranian military commander landed in Baghdad last month to meet with the group’s leaders. The commander pressured it to issue a statement suspending attacks on U.S. targets.
The leaders were unhappy with the suspension, the Iraqi official said, but acceded to the request of the country that has trained and armed their forces.
Iranian officials met with members of Hezbollah this month in Lebanon. One Hezbollah member summarized Tehran’s message: “We are not keen on giving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu any reason to launch a wider war on Lebanon or anywhere else.”
One Iranian-backed group has given no indication of standing down. The Houthis in Yemen have disrupted global trade by harassing commercial shipping through the Red Sea
To emphasize the new directive, Iran has dispatched military leaders and diplomats across the region to meet with local officials and militia members.
“Iran is doing its utmost to prevent the expansion of the war and the escalation from reaching the point of no return,” said an Iraqi official with close ties to Iranian-backed forces there.
U.S. officials say the message might be having some effect. As of Saturday, Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria hadn’t attacked U.S. forces in more than 13 days, an unusual lull since the war in Gazabegan in October. The militants held their fire even after a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad killed a senior Kataib Hezbollah official.
Days after Kataib Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack that killed the three U.S. Army reservists, an Iranian military commander landed in Baghdad last month to meet with the group’s leaders. The commander pressured it to issue a statement suspending attacks on U.S. targets.
The leaders were unhappy with the suspension, the Iraqi official said, but acceded to the request of the country that has trained and armed their forces.
Iranian officials met with members of Hezbollah this month in Lebanon. One Hezbollah member summarized Tehran’s message: “We are not keen on giving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu any reason to launch a wider war on Lebanon or anywhere else.”
One Iranian-backed group has given no indication of standing down. The Houthis in Yemen have disrupted global trade by harassing commercial shipping through the Red Sea
