[Weekly Standard] Jeffrey Gedmin - The Israel Defense Forces conducted a raid in Lebanon several days ago apparently aimed at capturing a prominent Hizballah leader, Mohammed Yazbeck, who is the personal representative of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The supreme leader made himself heard in an August 2 communique, in which he called Hizballah "the Muslim nation's front-line defense" and promised more "martyrdom" to fend off the Zionist-American plot aimed at seizing control "over the Muslim world." There have been unconfirmed reports from Israeli sources that an Iranian general, Yahya Rahim Safavi, has assumed command of the Lebanon war. Former Israeli chief of staff Moshe Yaalon believes at a minimum that Iranian Zelzal missiles - the items in the Hizballah arsenal that are capable of striking Tel Aviv - may be under Iranian command and control.
2006-08-07 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive