Iran’s terror proxy Hezbollah has launched a “crowdfunding” campaign online to raise funds to purchase military equipment and clothing for its jihadists, like reported by breitbart.com
“Mujahids on glorious battlefronts are in need of clothing and military equipment,” reads a statement on the website featuring the “crowdfunding” drive, according to the Foreign Desk.
“There is also a custom hashtag ‘equip a mujahid,’ that the group has been circulating to increase viral activity of the campaign on social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter,” adds the news outlet.
The Shiite narco-terrorist Hezbollah receives a major portion of its funding from Iran.
According to the U.S. and some analysts, the Islamic Republic funds the group to the tune of between $100 and $200 million annually.
Hezbollah also generates hundreds of millions from a “cocaine money-laundering scheme” in Latin America that “provides a never-ending source of funding” for its terrorist operations in the Middle East and beyond, Michael Braun, a former DEA operations chief, told U.S. lawmakers last year.
However, a top U.S. Treasury Department official told U.S. lawmakers in May 2016 that Hezbollah finds itself in dire financial straits after years of sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies.
Citing a Lebanese anti-Hezbollah newspaper, the Foreign Desk notes that “Critics in the Arab world have ridiculed the [crowdfunding] campaign as a sign of a weakness on Hezbollah’s part, questioning whether the terror group is ‘running a little low on resources.’”
Soon after reaching the controversial deal with Iran to limit its nuclear activity in exchange for lifting up sanctions, President Barack Obama acknowledged that the Islamic Republic would likely use the sanctions relief revenue to fund terrorist groups like Hezbollah.
“Let’s stipulate that some of that money will flow to activities that we object to… Iran supports terrorist organizations like Hezbollah,” conceded the U.S. president. “It supports proxy groups that threaten our interests and the interests of our allies — including proxy groups who killed our troops in Iraq.”
“The truth is that Iran has always found a way to fund these efforts, and whatever benefit Iran may claim from sanctions relief pales in comparison to the danger it could pose with a nuclear weapon,” he added.
In August 2016, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah reportedly admitted that Iran funds the terror group.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) revealed that Lebanon’s Al Ahed news quoted Nasrallah as saying, “Hezbollah’s budget – its salaries and expenditures, its food and drink, weapons and missiles – [all come from] Iran. Is that clear?”
“As long as Iran has money we have money. Do you require greater transparency than that[?] The funds earmarked for us do not reach us through the banks. We receive them the same way we receive our missiles with which we threaten Israel,” he added.
