Lebanon

For the United States, the conclusion ought to be clear: the claims that Washington should back off its sanctions policy lest Lebanon break, that instability would only benefit Hezbollah, and that the US should continue instead to invest in Lebanon’s “state institutions,” are deluded.

Andrea Stricker is a research fellow at FDD where she conducts research on nonproliferation, Iran, North Korea, and other security policy topics.

It may be risky. It might also be worth pondering.

The Arab League and Israel also classify all of Hezbollah’s movement a terrorist organization. Grenell noted the following authoritarian and totalitarian states have not banned Hezbollah: Russia, Syria, North Korea, China, Venezuela, Syria and Cuba. The ambassador also cited Iraq, a country that is largely dominated by Iranian regime-backed militias.