Credit: Gary Raynaldo / Diplomatic Times / Headquarters of U.S. Department of State in Washington D.C.

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC TIMES

The U.S Department of State, in its annual Country Reports of Terrorism released today,  said the Iranian regime and its proxies continued to plot and commit terrorist attacks on a global scale last year.  According to the report, in the past, Tehran has spent as much as $700 million per year to support terrorist groups, including Hizballah and Hamas.  However,  its ability to provide financial support in 2019 was “constrained by crippling U.S. sanctions”.  According to the report, Iran was directly involved in plotting terrorism through its IRGC and Ministry of Intelligence and Security, including plots in recent years in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.  “Tehran also continued to permit an al-Qa’ida (AQ) facilitation network to operate in Iran, sending money and fighters to conflict zones in Afghanistan and Syria, and it still allowed AQ members to reside in the country.  Finally, the Iranian regime continued to foment violence, both directly and through proxies, in Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen,” the report stated.

“We designated the IRGC, including its Qods Force, as a terrorist organization, the first time the authority has ever been used on a foreign government.”

-Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said at a press conference announcing the Terrorism Reports 

Horn of Africa, Sahel, Syria Threats:

Al Shabaab in the Horn of Africa, Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin in the Sahel, and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham/Al-Nusrah Front in Syria are among the world’s most active and dangerous terrorist groups.

Hizballah — an Iran-Backed Terrorist Group

According to  the Report ,  the United States also continued to spearhead high-level diplomatic engagement on Hizballah — an Iran-backed terrorist group that is based in Lebanon but that has a truly global reach.  Throughout the year, the United States ratcheted up efforts to degrade and disrupt Hizballah’s finances, with numerous designations of financial entities, facilitators, and money launderers tied to the group.  In July, the United States and Argentina co-hosted the second Western Hemisphere Counterterrorism Ministerial, which commemorated the 25th anniversary of Hizballah’s attack on a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires.   In 2019, Argentina, Kosovo, Paraguay, and the United Kingdom all joined the United States in designating the entirety of Hizballah as a terrorist organization, rejecting the false distinction between its “military wing” and a purportedly “political wing.”