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Beirut destruction, following 2006 war.
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| By Associated Press February 4, 2007 |
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The Iranian engineer peered through the huge hole in the bridge. He saw a thick concrete column below had shifted when the bridge was hit during last summer's Israeli bombardment of Lebanon's southern coastal highway.
"We have to bring down the entire structure and build from scratch," said the engineer, Hussam Khoshnevis, who was sent by President Mahmoud Ahmadinjad's office to oversee Iran's extensive reconstruction program in Lebanon following the devastating 34-day war between the Lebanese militia Hizbullah and Israel.
The bridge outside the village of Saksakiyeh, south of the port city of Sidon, is one of 27 bridges that Iran is repairing.
Iran is one of many nations helping Lebanon recover. But the close ties between the predominantly Shiite Muslim country and Hizbullah, the militant Shiite political movement whose name means "Party of God," has alarmed the U.S.-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and his allies.
Lebanese have long complained that international conflicts always play out in their country, and they argue that outside meddling in this summer's war and the current political crisis have essentially turned the latest discord in Lebanon into part of the Washington vs. Tehran battle.
The government argues that Tehran engineered the current crisis that has taken the country to the brink of civil war. Charges of Iran's covert role are lent weight by reports from Tehran that Iranian leaders are unhappy that the protests got out of control -- turning deadly -- and have asked Hizbullah to cool the situation.
Iran watchers say that since the end of the war, Iran's political influence has been backed up by the biggest donation the Iranian government has made to Hizbullah -- an estimated $1.2 billion, compared to under $100 million given the group in a typical year.
Similarly, last summer's war drew Saniora's government dramatically closer to the United States. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Beirut and called Saniora an ally.
Hizbullah and Iran strongly believe -- as do many Lebanese -- that Saniora's government makes its decisions in consultation with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, Jeffrey Feltman, who is known for his almost daily visits to pro-government leaders.
The United States announced US $770 million in new U.S. aid, more than three times the Bush administration's previous commitment, during January's international donor conference in Paris.
Iran, however, has already gained thanks from Lebanese Shiites, the country's largest sect, for its contributions immediately after the war, including the US $300 million that Hizbullah paid within days of the Aug. 14 cease-fire to families that lost homes in Israel's bombardment.
"The Zionist enemy destroys and Iran's Islamic Republic builds," reads a banner near bombed out buildings in a Shiite suburb of the capital Beirut. Similar banners are seen in southern Shiite villages devastated in the war.
"The only country that's sincere and kind to us is Iran," said Sheik Qassem Hammadi, a Hizbullah cleric in Aitaroun, a heavily damaged village near Israel's border where Iran installed large generators to provide electricity immediately after the war.
Not all Lebanese are so grateful for Iran's help. Novelist and anthropologist Iman Humaydan, a member of the Druse sect, says she fears Tehran's influence could replace Lebanon's cosmopolitan culture with conservative Islam. She said she would accept America's influence before Iran's, though she would prefer to be free of both.
"The Iranian regime is based on religion. America...doesn't scare me as much," Humaydan said. "America hasn't set up institutions in Lebanon that would affect the fabric of society."
Iran's generosity does have a sectarian side -- one aim is to strengthen Lebanon's downtrodden Shiite community. But it may be reluctant to push Islamic influence too far, having learned from failed efforts by Hizbullah how difficult it would be to impose Islamic laws on a country with a variety of faiths and a history of tolerance.
The Iranian push to strengthen Hizbullah, as a political party and a well-armed militia on Israel's doorstep, would make Tehran a force in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and broaden its influence in the Middle East.
As a regional power, Iran would be better able to help its only Arab ally, Syria -- now isolated over accusations it arranged the assassination of ex-Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri two years ago -- and to counter U.S. and European pressure over its controversial nuclear program.
But things haven't been going as Iran hoped.
Lebanon's latest crisis began in November, when six ministers loyal to Hizbullah and its allies quit Saniora's Cabinet to push a demand for a Shiite veto over government decisions. But two months of opposition protests failed to dislodge the government, and last week's deadly rioting raised the specter of a renewal of Lebanon's 1975-90 sectarian civil war.
There were reports the opposition called off a general strike after emergency talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which supports the government. Reports out of Tehran say Iran's ambassador in Beirut was told to urge Hizbullah to return to negotiations over rejoining the government.
But that doesn't mean the Iranians are likely to abandon their loyal ally Hizbullah. Saeed Leylaz, an Iranian analyst, described Tehran's motive this way: "What's important is not only to strengthen Hizbullah but to show everyone that it is stronger than the Lebanese government."
The ties between the two allies go back to Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, when Iran created Hizbullah and let its fighters train on the front lines of the Iran-Iraq war. Despite denials by both sides, Iran reportedly remains Hizbullah's only reliable arms supplier, ignoring a U.N resolution that calls for disarming Hizbullah.
Shortly after the summer war, Hizbullah's charismatic leader, Sheik Hussein Nasrallah, said his group had 33,000 rockets -- up from the 22,000 he said his guerrillas had before the war.
Iran also has endeared itself to Shiites with grants, low-interest loans and donations to build schools and religious seminaries in the eastern, Shiite-dominated city of Baalbek. Thousands of poor families receive monthly payments of about US $90, as well as free medicine.
The Iranian government has placed no limit on donations to war reconstruction, said Khoshnevis, the Iranian engineer who heads Iran's reconstruction office in Beirut. "The government has declared its unconditional readiness to provide whatever is needed," he said.
Other Iranian officials have complained that Saniora's government was at first reluctant to hand over important reconstruction projects to Iran, apparently fearing it would increase its influence in the country.
After turning down several offers from Iran, the government finally agreed to allow the Iranians to repair or rebuild 95 schools (55 of which have been completed), 11 hospitals and clinics (four completed) and 70 places of worship (30 completed, including 10 Christian churches).
The Iranians have agreed to repair 200 kilometers (120 miles) of highways and provide 150 villages and Beirut's southern suburbs with a power network.
So far, Khoshnevis said Iran's pledges of reconstruction was estimated at about US $250 million, US $20 million of which has already been spent -- which is in addition to cash grants to Hizbullah during and after the war.
Yadollah Makari, Iran's representative of the Red Crescent Society in Beirut, said southern villagers were so grateful for Iran's aid that they responded with prayers whenever the Iranian president's name was mentioned.
"It made us very proud, that people appreciated the services we are delivering," said Makari.
Hizbullah's compensation payments just after the war contrasted with the government's slow response, and many in the south complain they also tried to prevent Iran from giving aid. Still, despite its increased influence in Lebanon, Iran may not achieve all its desired goals.
Its stature in the Sunni-majority Arab world was enhanced by Hizbullah's tough resistance to Israel in the war. But that popularity is fading because of the political crisis here and events in Iraq, including the execution of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, by the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government with close links to Iran.
This loss of confidence will make it tougher for Iran to appear as the champion of the Muslims -- and the Palestinians. But in the end, the direction Lebanon's political crisis takes in the next few weeks will be more crucial in deciding Iran's standing. |
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