Hezbollah uses Ashura religious events to show off ‘modern weapons’ - analysis

Hezbollah mobilized fighters for Shi’ite religious Ashura ceremonies in Lebanon over the weekend.

The decision by the terrorist group to show off its strength came in the wake of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatening Israel and bashing the West as well as blasting out homophobic comments during a speech. 

The terrorist group openly sent armed men out into Beirut’s streets and then bragged about it on pro-Iran media such as Al-Mayadeen. Hezbollah showcased modern weapons in the Dahiyeh neighborhood during the religious marches.

The goal of Hezbollah in this case is to blend Shi’ite religious events with the group’s militia and terrorist activities, to portray Hezbollah as both “safeguarding” these religious events and hijacking them for its own purposes.  

Hezbollah looks to hijack Shi'ite religious events

According to Al-Mayadeen, the Hezbollah members were “protecting the march, in which tens of thousands of Lebanese participated, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, to commemorate the tenth of Muharram.”

Hezbollah members posed with weapons including what appear to be large guns that are intended to be used against drones. These “guns” don’t fire bullets but can supposedly neutralize drones using other methods such as jamming.

Rallies for the religious events took place in the Beka’a Valley and also other areas of Lebanon.  

Nasrallah claimed that "Hezbollah's position is to defend Lebanon and its people and its oil, gas and water from looting.” This is a reference to how Hezbollah was able to use threats last year to pressure Israel into a US-backed maritime deal. Hezbollah has hijacked the government of Lebanon and gets it to carry out its orders at sea and on land.  

Pro-Iran media such as Al-Mayadeen focused on Nasrallah’s threats to Israel. "Beware of any foolishness,” the terrorist leader said, warning Israel several times. "We will go out in our marches in defense of all the oppressed, the tortured and the oppressed, in Palestine, Yemen and Bahrain, and in the whole world,” the Hezbollah leader claimed. 

Nasrallah also slammed European countries in the wake of recent Quran burnings in Denmark and Sweden. This has been used by Ira and also pro-Iran groups in Iraq to create new tensions.

Clearly, Iran thinks this issue can bring Hezbollah more support. According to France24 Nasrallah also made anti-gay comments. "In Lebanon, this danger started with some educational institutions and NGOs” he claimed, accusing groups of pushing “same-sex relations to children,” the France24 report noted. “He called on the education ministry to intervene.” 

In short, Nasrallah threatened Israel and European countries, made homophobic comments and sent armed men onto the streets to hijack a Shi’ite religious event, all as part of Hezbollah’s overall octopus-like stranglehold on Lebanon.