rans control over Hezbollah has been steadily declining since

approximately 1996, during the reformist presidency of Mohammad

Khatami. Money does continue to come from Iran to support
Hezbollah, but not the Iranian government. Instead, its private
religious foundations that direct the bulk of support, primarily to
Hezbollahs charitable activities. Nor are the amounts crucial to
Hezbollahs survival; even the high estimate frequently cited in the
press$200 million per annumis a fraction of Hezbollahs
operating funds. However, the most important reason for not
targeting Iran for the continued fighting in Lebanon is that this
conflict is antithetical to Irans interests.

Since 90 percent of Irans population is Shiite, its citizens had an undeniable

interest in the fate of its co-religionists in Lebanon following the Revolution
of 1978-79. Like Iranians, the Lebanese Shiite community was under
oppression both from Sunnis and Maronites. Moreover, Palestinian refugees,
settled in Lebanon without consultation with the Shiite community, served
as a drain on weak local economic resources and drew fire from Israel. The
Shiites felt helpless and frustrated. The successful revolution in Iran was
enormously inspirational to them. While the Iranian central government was
weak and scattered after the Revolution, semi-independent charitable
organizations, called bonyad (literally, foundation) sponsored by individual
Shiite clerics began to help the fledgling Hezbollah organization establish
itself as a defense force to protect the Shiite community. This was simply
not state support. Given the semi-independent corporate nature of Shiite
clerics, especially in the early days of Irans revolution, when internal power
struggles were endemic, there was little the Khomeini government could do
to curtail these operations.

Has the situation come to a stage where Irans support is no longer necessary? Has the militancy
been funded for too long?

Now, after nearly two decades, this ad hoc export of Iranian revolutionary
ideology may have succeeded too well. Whereas today the bulk of the Iranian
population has at least some doubts about their government, Hezbollah
maintains a stronger commitment to the symbolic legacy of the Iranian
Revolution than Iranians, according to Georgetown University professor
Daniel Byman. In a 2003 Foreign Affairs article, Byman pointed out that,
[Iran] lacks the means to force a significant change in the [Hezbollah]
movement and its goals. It has no real presence on the ground in Lebanon
and a call to disarm or cease resistance would likely cause Hezbollahs
leadership, or at least its most militant elements, simply to sever ties with
Tehrans leadership.
In short, Hezbollah has now taken on a life of its own. Even if all Iranian
financial and logistic support were cut off, Hezbollah would not only
continue, it would thrive.

HezbollahSyria

http://www.cfr.org/iran/hezbollah-connection-syria-iran/p30005

But people don't fully appreciate Hezbollah's ideological commitment to the concept of
"velayat-e faqih," or guardianship of the jurists, which holds that a Shiite Islamic cleric
should also serve as supreme head of government. For Hezbollah, this means the Iranian
leadership is also their leader--not for every foot soldier, but for Hezbollah's senior
leaders absolutely.

So what we see now is that Hezbollah is going to do things today that are in Iran's
interest even if they expressly run counter to the interests of Lebanon and Hezbollah's
own interest there. At the end of the day, the group's commitment to Iran trumps its
identity as a Lebanese political movement. Part of that has to do with the assassination
of Imad Mughniyeh in 2008, who led Hezbollah's military wing.

HOW DEEPLY ENTRENCHED IS IRANS INFLUENCE

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged Tuesday for the first
time that his militant movement received financial and material support from Iran, but denied
it took instructions from the Islamic Republic

Nasrallah said Iran had not issued orders to

Hezbollah since the movement was founded 30 years
ago, adding that if Israel attacked Iran's nuclear sites,
the leadership in Iran "would not ask anything of
Hezbollah."
He said if that were to happen, Hezbollah's own
leadership would "sit down, think and decide what to
do."
THIS HOWEVER DOESNT SEEM TO BE THE CASE, REVERT TO THE PREVIOUS
POINTS.
IRANS BACKING OF NON STATE ACTORS
In February 2005, Hariri is killed in a car bombing.
Outrage over the kllling, which is widely blamed on
Syria, leads to a Syrian military withdrawal and a
confrontation between two groups that will now wrestle
for control of Lebanon. On one side is Hezbollah and its
allies, backed by Syria and Iran; on the other a coalition
allied to Saudi Arabia and the West, led by Hariris son
and heir, Saad Hariri.
The conflict grows sharper after a monthlong war
between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. Hezbollah,
emboldened by its resistance against Israeli troops,
forces a political confrontation that leaves Lebanon
rudderless for 18 months. In May 2008, street fighting
erupts in Beirut, and Arab leaders, meeting in Doha, give
Hezbollah what it wanted: veto power over major
government decisions.
n mid-2010, word is leaked that the U.N.-backed international tribunal investigating
Hariris killing will soon indict Hezbollah members. Hezbollahs leader, Hassan
Nasrallah, warns that he will not accept such a verdict, and demands that the
government distance itself from the tribunal. Saad Hariri, the current prime minister,
makes conciliatory gestures but will not denounce the investigation of his fathers death.
Last week, Hezbollah withdrew from the cabinet, leaving Lebanon once again without a
government.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/weekinreview/16worth.html
Demographics Lebanon,
The Shias are probably the largest sectarian group, possibly accounting for one half of
Lebanons population (Chauprade 2009). Structurally high birth rates and low emigration
rates make it very likely that the Shia community eventually becomes a majority in
Lebanon (Hamzeh 2004). With 18 recognised sects (Norton 2007), Lebanon is the most
religiously diverse country in the region (Drysdale and Blake 1985).
What is Hezbollah?

In the 1960s, Musa al Sadr, an Iranian born Shia cleric, sought to develop religious
autonomy and a political platform for the Shias (Mackey 2008). Subsequently, the
outbreak of the civil war in 1975 led to the establishment of the Shia militia AMAL (Owen
2004).
Following the Iranian revolution (1979) and Israels occupation of South Lebanon,
Islamist Shia clerics became increasingly influential in AMAL circles (Mackey 2008). This
influence would eventually lead to the foundation of Hezbollah. Although officially
founded in 1982, Hezbollah only became properly organised by the mid-1980s (Norton
2007).

Hezbollahs primary aim is the establishment of Islamic rule in Lebanon (Saab 2008), as
soon as the majority of the Lebanese citizens support this idea (Hamzeh 2004). , and
annihilation of Israel

When did it rise?

The Shia community in areas that currently form Lebanon had already established ties
with the Safavid Empire in Iran in the sixteenth century (Harris 2006). This partially
explains Irans leading role in the creation of Hezbollah (Norton 2007). Harik (2005)
argues that Irans generous financial support has been instrumental in all of Hezbollahs
achievements. Furthermore, Iran has a strong religious influence as Hezbollah
recognises Imam Ali Khamenei as official leader of the Shia faith (Saab 2008).
Iran connection- endorsement, non state actors-attempt to stem the growing influence of
Saudi-GCC
Arms, money- private, not govt?/

Furthermore, Hezbollahs control over Beiruts international airport makes it very likely
that Iranian planes have brought weapons to Lebanon (Saab 2008). Moreover, in
November 2009, close to Cyprus, Israel seized a ship, travelling from Iran to Syria and
carrying weapons for Hezbollah (Norell 2009). Iran also supports Hezbollah militarily
through a small presence of its Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon (Stoessinger 2008).

Hezbollah has also received Iranian-supplied weaponry, including 11,500 missiles already in
place in southern Lebanon. 3,000 Hezbollah militants have undergone training inIran, which
included guerrilla warfare, firing missiles and rocket artillery, operating unmanned drones, marine
warfare, and conventional war operations.[27]

Mahmoud Ali Suleiman, the Hezbollah operative captured in August 2006 by the IDF for his role
in the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12, admitted during his
interrogation that he received weapons-training and religious instruction in Iran. He told his
interrogators that he rode in a civilian car to Damascus, from where he flew to Iran. Other than
the Russian-made Katyusha, Hezbollah's reported artillery cache is entirely Iranian-made.[citation
needed]

On August 4, 2006, Jane's Defense Weekly, a defense industry magazine, reported that
Hezbollah asked Iran for "a constant supply of weapons to support its operations against Israel"
in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. The report cited Western diplomatic sources as saying that
Iranian authorities promised Hezbollah a steady supply of weapons "for the next stage of the
confrontation".[28]

How deeply entrenched.

Latest since 2005- Rafiq assaisnation- Son(Saudi) Vs Hezbollah.
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/lebanon-and-the-start-of-iran-and-saudi-
arabias-proxy-war

The Saudi regime was so worried about Hezbollah and the

perceived Iranian victory in Lebanon that Saudi leaders proposed
creating an Arab military force, backed by Washington and NATO, to
intervene in Beirut, according to another classified U.S. diplomatic
cable disclosed by WikiLeaks. Prince Saud al-Faisal, then the Saudi
Foreign Minister, floated the idea on March 10th to the U.S. special
adviser on Iraq, David Satterfield, who was visiting Riyadh. Saud
stated that the effort by Hizballah and Iran to take over Beirut was
the first step in a process that would lead to the overthrow of the
Siniora government and an Iranian takeover of all Lebanon, the
cable said. Such a victory, combined with Iranian actions in Iraq
and on the Palestinian front, would be a disaster for the US and the
entire region.
Recent pull out- topple govt again
WSJ article, if we get it.
Hezbollahs presence and activities infringement of Lebanons sovereignty
Elections, public services, armed personnel,
Elections: In the final phase of Lebanons civil war, Syria Hezbollahs local patron is
left as the dominant power broker; after more years of fighting it helps arrange a truce in
1990. Its troops stay to police the peace, and Damascus emerges as Lebanons de facto
sovereign. Hezbollah is the only faction allowed to keep its weapons; in 1992, it also
begins running parliamentary candidates, even as it fights a guerrilla war during the rest
of the decade against Israeli troops remaining in southern Lebanon

Hezbollah- Syrias expense.

http://theglobalobservatory.org/2015/03/hezbollah-syria-lebanon-israel/