Iranian Hezbollah

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Hezbollah or Hesbollah (“Party of God” from Arabic hizbu 'llah , cf. Koran 5:56) is an Iranian- Shiite movement that developed as a supporter of Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran before the Islamic revolution . The supporters of the Hezbollah movement in Iran are known as Hezbollahi and played a crucial role in the Islamic Cultural Revolution from 1980 to 1987 in Iran.

prehistory

The first connection between thugs and the Iranian clergy came about during the Constitutional Revolution in Iran (1906–1909). Well-known clergymen created a kind of bodyguard that not only exercised a protective function, but could also be mobilized for demonstrations if necessary. The connection between these people, mostly recruited from the demimonde or the bazaar, was beneficial for both sides. The clergy had a powerful force that they could mobilize against their political opponents at any time. These in turn had powerful protectors when the police were too eager to pursue them.

Emergence

The name Hezbollah ("Party of God") is of Koranic origin (5:56) and is mentioned for the first time in this context in Ayatollah Khomeini's most important treatise Hokumat-e Eslami ( Velayate Faqih ), which was published in a book in 1970. In the mid-1970s, demonstrations against Mohammad Reza Shah led to clashes between the demonstrators and members of the security forces. During these demonstrations, the followers of Khomeini shouted “Hezb faqad Hezbollah, Rahbar faqad Ruhollah” (Hezbollah is the only party and Khomeini is our only leader), which has since become the slogan of the Hezbollah movement. During this time the revolutionary Hezbollah groups took up the armed struggle against the Shah regime from underground.

At the beginning of January 1978 there were first clashes between student demonstrators and the army in Qom . The ongoing demonstrations ultimately led to the overthrow of the Shah in 1979. After the victory of the Islamic revolution in Iran, Khomeini divided the Hezbollah militants into various state groups, some of which were integrated into the army and the Iranian secret service ( VEVAK ) .

One of the most important groups formed from the Hezbollah militias was the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (Pasdaran), which was founded by Khomeini in 1979. After the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980, the supporters of the Hezbollah movement formed the Basiji volunteer militia , as well as the al-Quds unit . Other groups that emerged from Hezbollah are the student association Tahkime Wahdat and Ansare Hezbollah , which is the organizational mouthpiece of the Iranian Hezbollah movement.

In the first years after the Islamic Revolution (1980–1982), repeated power struggles developed between the various political factions, with armed street battles in Tehran between members of the People's Mojahedin (MKO) and the Hezbollahis, who in turn were supporters of the Islamic Republicans Khomeini's party were.

To date, there are a dozen independent Hezbollahi groups that bear the name Hezbollah and can be mobilized by the regime at any time. During the 1999 student protests, Hezbollah attacked the protesting students. In this context, there were connections between high-ranking members of the Iranian Hezbollah as masterminds of the so-called chain killings in Iran.

Islamic Cultural Revolution

The Hezbollahi were instrumentalized during the Islamic Cultural Revolution to act primarily against secularization and modernization based on Western models at Iran's universities . In a speech on April 18, 1980, Ayatollah Khomeini harshly criticized some Iranian universities which, in his opinion, were following the Western model and endangering the Islamic revolution:

“We are not afraid of economic sanctions or military intervention. What we are afraid of are Western-oriented universities that want to manipulate our youth with false values ​​for their own Western interests! "

Khomeini's address was seen as a signal for the Hezbollah movement in the country to take action against Western influences at the Iranian universities. It led to the Islamization of the general school system in Iran, which was carried out in high schools and universities until the mid-1980s. These purges crossed the entire country, especially in the Tehran universities, the University of Shiraz , Ahvaz , Rasht , and other larger cities in the country. In the course of these confrontations between the Khomeini-loyal Hezbollahi and western-oriented students, over 300 students were injured and more than 20 dead. These riots led to the closure of some universities in Iran for several years.

The Hezbollahi

The Hezbollahi are not uniformed , but can be recognized by their demeanor and appearance. Hezbollahi usually wear simple clothes made of fabric, pants (no jeans ) and simple black shoes or slippers . A black and white Palestinian shawl , usually worn in winter, and a full or three-day beard. A Hezbollahi is one who follows Islamic customs and regulations comprehensively, which is also referred to as a maktabi in the Iranian context. With disgust for any Western or Eastern ideology and lifestyle. He is simply dressed, sincere and upset. Khomeini is his heart and soul. A Hezbollahi does not use any western products such as perfume or, from his point of view, decadent western things and never wears a tie as a sign of his rejection of western capitalism . He doesn't smoke and boycott American products. Today, Hezbollahi are found in all levels of Iranian society. Members of the regime and members of the Iranian parliament as well as members of the Basij and Pasdaran are generally referred to as Hezbollahi. The most prominent Hezbollahi in Iran include the former Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and veterans from the Iran-Iraq war such as Zabihollah Bakhshi , Hassan Abbasi and Massoud Dehnamaki . One of the first leaders of the Hezbollahi in Iran is Hodschatoleslam Hadi Ghaffari , who was considered one of Khomeini's young disciples.

distribution

The Hezbollah movement was formed and spread in the pre-revolutionary era of Iran in the 1970s until the overthrow of the Shah regime in 1979. With the emergence of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was proclaimed on April 1, 1979 by Ayatollah Khomeini, the Hezbollah movement suddenly spread throughout the country and was spread in the early 1980s as part of the revolutionary export planned by Iran to neighboring countries of Iran and the entire Middle East , with the majority targeting the Shiite population in the respective countries. Out of these efforts, thousands of members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (Pasdaran) were sent to the respective states in order to spread the revolutionary Hezbollah movement based on the Iranian model. This resulted in various Shiite groups, mostly ideologically and financially supported by Iran, in Iraq , Syria , Lebanon , Afghanistan , Azerbaijan , Bahrain , Yemen and Saudi Arabia such as the Hizballah Al-Hijaz , but also Sunni groups such as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad or the Kurdish Hezbollah in Turkey . The best-known offshoot of the Iranian Hezbollah movement, however, is the Lebanese Hezbollah , which was created in 1982 and is a political party and has also been represented in the Lebanese parliament since 1992. To date, the Lebanese Hezbollah is the most heavily Iranian-supported organization in possession of heavy conventional weapons.

swell

  • Baqer Moin: Khomeini: Life of the Ayatollah . Thomas Dunne Books, 2000.
  • Asghar Shirazi: The Constitution of Iran . Tauris, 1997.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Moojan Momen: An Introduction to Shi'i Islam, Yale University Press, 1985, p. 199