The latest in a string of sobering hearings held by the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday dove into the "clear and present danger" the Islamic Republic of Iran presents to the United States and Americans here at home.
In addition to Iran's nuclear ambitions and horrific human rights abuses at home and its network of terrorist proxies that continue to attack American service members abroad with injurious and deadly consequences for selfless troops in harm's way, Iran's efforts to project its nefarious power in the homeland continue to present a rising threat.
One of our day's "evil empires," to borrow a line from a 1983 speech by President Reagan, Iran's homeland security threat has "metastasized even more," emphasized House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) in Wednesday's hearing.
"These threats include assassination plots on former Trump administration officials; targeting and attacking U.S. service members abroad; disrupting trade and commerce and endangering maritime security in the Red Sea; and attempting to coordinate external terror operations in Europe and South America," Green explained of the wide-ranging dangers created by Iran's undeterred hostility.
Focusing on Iran's terror proxies — the "Axis of Resistance" comprised of militant Islamist groups — used by Tehran to inflict its evil agenda while providing "plausible deniability for attacks conducted on behalf of the Iranian regime," the hearing looked at Hizballah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza and Lebanon, among other terrorist beneficiaries of Iranian support.
"In exchange for these groups’ support and actions, they receive significant financial backing, material support, and training from the Iranian regime," Green explained. "Although we regularly hear about these groups’ activities in the Middle East, their operations are not confined solely to that region," he emphasized.
Hizbollah, Green said, "has spent decades building the infrastructure needed to carry out its agenda in all parts of our world" and reminded that FBI Director Christopher Wray had previously told Congress that "the arrests of individuals in the United States allegedly linked to Hizballah's main overseas terrorist arm, and their intelligence-collection and -procurement efforts, demonstrate Hizballah's interest in long-term contingency planning activities here in the homeland."
To wit, earlier this week, an illegal alien nabbed by officials in Texas proclaimed himself to be a Hizbollah terrorist who wanted to "make a bomb."
What's more, Hizbollah has conducted operations throughout South America and has ties with Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, in addition to its engagement in "narcotics, weapons, and human trafficking, as well as money laundering for authoritarian regimes, transnational criminal organizations, and other terror networks," Green stated.
Turning to the Houthis, Green recounted the long-time Iranian proxy's "operations that target U.S. partners in the Persian Gulf, such as Saudi Arabia," providing evidence that "Iran has provided the Houthis with unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with explosives and long-range missiles."
Such attacks, Green warned, "have not only advanced Iran's interests in the region but have also helped the regime test weapons systems before fielding the capabilities elsewhere." Already, in recent months, the Houthis have used such systems to attack Western commercial shipping vessels, killing sailors and upending global supply chains.
Invoking Hamas terrorists "barbaric attack against Israel on October 7," Green noted the Iranian proxy has demonstrated its commitment to carrying out "its hateful agenda at any cost" as well as Iran's dedication to "bankrolling the organization's quest to destroy Israel and the West."
Hamas, too, is not limited to the Gaza Strip — though that's where much of its focus currently lies as it tries to survive Israel's righteous operation to eliminate it as a military threat to the Jewish State. "In December of last year, German authorities detained four individuals with ties to Hamas for plotting attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe," Green recalled of the bloodthirsty terrorists whose thwarted orders came from Hamas leadership holed up in Lebanon.
Even while Yemen, Gaza, and Lebanon can seem to be the world away that they are, Green warned that — as recent history has demonstrated — threats from Iran's proxies "are not localized" to their main hubs of operation. "What happens in someone else's backyard will eventually make its way to ours," he cautioned. "We must acknowledge that the 'Axis of Resistance' is committed to destroying Israel and the West" and "have shown the intent to conduct operations abroad and have demonstrated a willingness to do so," emphasized Green. "These groups have also exploited conflicts via news outlets and online communications to call on their supporters located in the United States to carry out attacks."
