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The assassination of Nasrallah, a "great loss" for Hezbollah and Iran

2024-09-28 20:00:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The assassination of Nasrallah, a "great loss" for Hezbollah and Iran

Hassan Nasrallah

The assassination of Hassan Nasrallah is a heavy blow to Hezbollah and its main backer, Iran.

Hezbollah, the militant group and political party that controls most of southern Lebanon, said Nasrallah was killed during Israeli bombing of the capital, Beirut, on September 27.

During his 30 years at the helm of Hezbollah, Nasrallah turned the Shiite militia into a major political force in Lebanon, as well as a powerful enemy of neighboring Israel.

Hezbollah – designated a terrorist organization by the United States, although the European Union only designates its military wing as such – is also a key member of Iran's so-called axis of resistance. This axis is a network of Iranian proxies and Tehran-backed militant groups against Israel and the United States.

Nasrallah's death is a "huge and shameful loss" for Iran, said Ali Fathollah-Hejad, director of the Berlin-based Center for Middle East and Global Order.

"This is the most serious blow to Tehran's position in the region" since the killing of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani by a US airstrike in Iran in 2020, Fathollah-Nejad told Radio Free Europe's Farda Radio.

Hassan Nasrallah (right), seen here addressing a crowd in Beirut in July 1994, was elected leader of Hezbollah at the age of 32. Source: AP

Nasrallah, Soleimani and Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, "constituted the core of Iran's far-reaching regional ambitions," he said.

A charismatic cleric and skilled orator, Nasrallah was elected head of Hezbollah at the age of 32. With significant financial and political assistance from Tehran, Nasrallah helped Hezbollah become a powerful political and military entity in Lebanon and a key player in the region.

His death at the age of 64 will have "grave consequences" for the operations of Iran's resistance axis, said Hamidreza Azizi, of the German Institute for International Affairs and Security.

"Right now, this causes a lot of trouble, lack of coordination and ambiguity," he told REL.

Yemen's Houthi rebels, another member of the axis, could take Hezbollah's role if Iran decides to create a new hierarchy in the network, Azizi says.

These rebels have been "more adept" at challenging Israel since the Gaza war broke out than other members of the resistance axis and have also suffered fewer blows, Azizi said.

"But there is no guarantee that they will remain so, given Israel's determination to go after [the axis members] one by one," he added.

For Hezbollah, Nasrallah's death could be catastrophic, experts say.

"It will be very difficult to replace Nasrallah," said Norman Roule, a CIA veteran who worked in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

"Each of his successors will miss his political status in Lebanon and his personal relationship with Iran's supreme leader," Roule told Farda Radio.

Qassem Soleimani (left), Nasrallah (center) and Khamenei formed what experts said was the "core" of Iran's regional strategies.

Hezbollah has suffered major setbacks in recent months. Israel has killed key members of its leadership, destroyed much of its military arsenal and cut off its communications.

"The Israel Defense Forces have wiped out an entire generation of Hezbollah leaders, who take with them a vast collective experience that is irreplaceable," Roule said.

Hezbollah's base of support does not extend beyond Lebanon's Shiite community, and not everyone in the community supports the group.

Heiko Wimmen, of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, said Hezbollah is too "institutionalized to be destroyed."

But, he added that this group may "give up in the end" if it continues to take so many "big hits"./ REL