(Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Shimon Shapira - Gen. Hassan Shateri, 58, of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF), who was killed in Syria, was a senior Iranian representative in Lebanon, though he was not the IRGC commander in the country. That position is held by Hassan Mehadavi, also known by his Persian name, Mohammad Riza Zahadi. Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah noted that Shateri was not the first Iranian to be killed on a mission with Hizbullah, thereby confirming that Iranian military forces are involved in Hizbullah's activity. Shateri oversaw the rehabilitation program for southern Lebanon and the Dahiya quarter of Beirut, along with projects that enabled Hizbullah to create the independent infrastructure for a state within a state. Shateri also set up a real estate company whose task was to purchase land, sometimes quite sizable tracts, in Christian and Druze villages and thereby extend Hizbullah's control. Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Dr. Shimon Shapira is a senior research associate at the Jerusalem Center.
2013-02-21 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive