The English-language daily said the financial cutback was “stirring an unprecedented crisis within the Lebanese Shiite guerrilla organization.”
The Islamic Republic does not deny providing financial aid to Hezbollah, but says all aid is humanitarian and none military. Western estimates cite figures usually around $100 million a year for all kinds of assistance.
The Post, however, said that “due to the impact of the recent round of international sanctions, the Islamic Republic has been forced to cut back on the funding.”
Others questioned that, however, saying that $100 million was not a large sum for the Iranian government and that if aid to Hezbollah was a high priority it could easily continue that level of payment.
The newspaper said the funding cutback “has stirred tensions between Hezbollah and its Iranian patrons, further fueled by disagreements between the top Hezbollah leadership and the Revolutionary Guard Corps officer appointed to oversee Hezb-ollah operations on behalf of the Islamic Republic.”
It identified that officer as “Hossain Mahadavi,” presumably meaning Mahdavi, and said he is a senior member of the Al-Qods Force, the branch of the Pasdaran (Revolutionary Guard) that is responsible for military operations outside Iran.
The Post said Mahdavi was sent to Lebanon to fill a vacuum created by the 2008 assassination in Damascus of Hezbullah’s presumed top military commander, Imad Mughniyeh, a Lebanese Shiite. Mughniyeh was also thought to be the chief liaison between the Lebanese group and the Pasdaran.
According to information that has reached Israel, the Post said, Mahdavi has clashed with senior Hezbollah officials, including Secretary General Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. The Post said Hezbollah is now “refusing to accept the Iranian’s authority.”
Lebanon is tense currently because of concerns a special UN tribunal will name officials of Hezbollah in an indictment for the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The Post said, “The prevailing assessment within the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] Northern Command is that Hezbollah will refrain from attacking Israel as part of an effort to divert attention away from the tribunal’s findings, but is more likely to topple the Lebanese government and steer the country toward political deadlock.”