For three decades, thanks to massive financial and political support from the Iranian mullahs, Hezbollah has blackmailed Lebanon’s political elite and built a state within the state. It has involved the nation in adventures having nothing to do with national interests, including terrorist operations and the kidnapping of Western hostages on behalf of Tehran.

With Mafia-style operations, Hezbollah has built a large black economy, sometimes imposing monopolies by terror. It runs banks, insurance and transport companies, hotels and telecom networks, as well as factories assembling bombs and rockets. Its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, claims that the group has stockpiled more than 100,000 short- and medium-range rockets and missiles.