Iran is intent on torpedoing the Middle East peace process by encouraging ongoing Hezbollah attacks on southern Lebanon, say senior Israeli military sources.
The assessment was made after Hezbollah forces north of the so-called southern Lebanon security zone fired rocket-propelled grenades Tuesday night at an outpost of the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army near Kantara village.
No casualties or damage were reported.
The latest action follows a string of public professions of support for Hezbollah’s actions made this week in Lebanon by visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akhbar Velayati.
Velayati exhorted the Shi’ite group to continue its attacks until Israel withdraws entirely from southern Lebanon. On Wednesday, he visited the village of Shtura, in the Bekaa Valley. Earlier he held talks in Beirut with Syrian and Lebanese officials and Hezbollah leaders.
The Israeli military sources said, though, that the Iranian’s position does not necessarily reflect that of Syria. Damascus, they said, seems intent on not allowing the current violence in southern Lebanon to escalate into outright military hostilities between Israel and Syria.
The sources said they hope and expect that Syria will indeed act to prevent an escalation of such hostilities. But Israel will continue to react forcefully to Hezbollah provocations against the SLA or border zone itself, the sources said.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
