[Telegraph-UK] Damien McElroy - Intelligence experts have warned that rather than merely seeking to distract attention from its domestic turmoil with rhetoric, Iran will seek retaliation beyond its borders. "Hizbullah has stretched, facilitated by Iran, across the Middle East, Central Asia, Europe and Latin America," said Magnus Ranstorp, a terrorism expert at Sweden's National Defense University. "It grants Iran global power and Hizbullah has become more susceptible to Iran's efforts to project its influence." "Hizbullah is capable of striking in Germany or more likely planning an incident like the al-Qaeda cell in Hamburg that planned the attack on New York," said Alexander Ritzmann, a fellow at the European Center for Democracy. General Douglas Fraser, the new head of U.S. Southern Command, this week warned that Hizbullah and other Iranian allies posed the greatest threat to security in Latin America. "The real concern is not a nation-to-nation interaction; it is the connection that Iran has with extremist organizations like Hamas and Hizbullah and the potential risk that that could bring to this region," he said.
2009-06-29 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive