Iran's Deadly Ambition (31 page)

40
.
   
Josh Rogin and Eli Lake, “Iran and North Korea: The Nuclear ‘Axis of Resistance,’ ” Daily Beast, January 31, 2014,
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/31/iran-and-north-korea-the-nuclear-axis-of-resistance.html
.

41
.
   
“Hezbollah Planned to Attack Israeli Tourists,”
Daily Star
(Lebanon), April 19, 2014,
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Apr-19/253847-hezbollah-planned-to-attack-israeli-tourists.ashx
.

42
.
   
See Haroon Siddique and agencies, “Thailand Arrests Hezbollah Suspect after Terror Tipoff,”
The Guardian
(London), January 13, 2012,
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/13/thailand-arrests-hezbollah-suspect-terror-tipoff
.

43
.
   
Ibid.

44
.
   
Joel Greenberg and Simon Denyer, “Israel Blames Iran for India and Georgia Bombings; Tehran Denies Role,”
Washington Post
, February 13, 2012,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/bombs-target-israeli-diplomats-in-india-georgia-2-injured/2012/02/13/gIQA2kDlAR_story.html
.

45
.
   
As cited in “Delhi Car Blast: Has Hizbollah Found Supporters in India?”
Rediff.com
, February 14, 2012,
http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-delhi-car-blast-has-hizbollah-found-supporters-in-india/20120214.htm
.

46
.
   
Matthew Levitt,
Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon’s Party of God
(Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2013), 122.

47
.
   
Ibid., 117
–
39.

48
.
   
See, for example, U.S. Department of State, Office of the Spokesperson, “Additional Treasury and State Designations Targeting Networks Linked to Iranian WMD Proliferation and Sanctions Evasion,” media note, December 12, 2013,
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/218637.htm
.

49
.
   
Louis Charbonneau, “Exclusive: Iran’s Illicit Procurement Appears to Slow Amid Nuclear Talks—U.N. Experts,” Reuters, May 11, 2014,
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/11/us-iran-nuclear-sanctions-idUSBREA4A05820140511
.

50
.
   
David Albright, Daniel Schnur, and Andrea Stricker,
Iran Admits Illegally Acquiring Goods for Its Nuclear Program
, ISIS Report (Institute for Science and International Security, September 10, 2014),
http://isis-online.org/isis-reports/detail/iran-admits-illegally-acquiring-goods-for-its-nuclear-programs/
.

51
.
   
“Iran Elite Group Suspected of Keeping Secret Funds in Asia,” Kyodo News International, May 4, 2014,
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/kyodo-news-international/140504/iran-elite-group-suspected-keeping-secret-funds-asia
.

52
.
   
Ibid.

53
.
   
Farhan Bokhari, “Pakistan to Build $1.5bn Iran Pipeline,”
Financial Times
, January 31, 2013,
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3a2abb18-6bbe-11e2-a700-00144feab49a.html#axzz2JfYA3fbG
.

54
.
   
“Iran Cancels Pakistan’s Gas Pipeline Loan,” Associated Press, December 14, 2014,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/iran-cancels-pakistan-gas-pipeline-loan/2013/12/14/8ff1078e-64bd-11e3-af0d-4bb80d704888_story.html
.

55
.
   
Ibid.

56
.
   
“Pakistan Owes Iran $100m for Electricity Imports,” Press TV (Tehran), September 27, 2014,
http://presstv.com/detail/2014/09/27/380221/pakistan-owes-iran-100m-for-electricity/
.

57
.
   
Gal Luft, “Iran-Pakistan Pipeline: Iran’s New Economic Lifeline,”
IAGS Journal of Energy Security
(June 18, 2009),
http://ensec.org/index.php?view=article&catid=96%3Acontent&id=199%3Airan-pakistan-pipeline-irans-new-economic-lifeline&tmpl=component&print=1&page=&option=com_content&Itemid=345
.

58
.
   
See, for example, “Iran, Afghanistan and India to Sign Pact, Official Says,”
Haaretz.com
(Tel Aviv), March 30, 2014,
http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/1.582805
.

CHAPTER VII: A FOOTHOLD IN LATIN AMERICA

  
1
.
   
Joel Hirst, “The ALBA: Iran’s Gateway,” in
Iran’s Strategic Penetration of Latin America
, ed. Joseph M. Humire and Ilan Berman (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2014), 22
–
23.

  
2
.
   
Adrian Oliva, “A Bolivian Base for Iran’s Military Advisors,” in
Iran’s Strategic Penetration of Latin America
, ed. Joseph M. Humire and Ilan Berman, 71.

  
3
.
   
Ibid., 71
–
73.

  
4
.
   
Ibid.

  
5
.
   
Luis Fleischman, “Venezuela: Anatomy of a Dictator,”
Journal of International Security Affairs
, no. 11 (Fall 2006).

  
6
.
   
“Hugo Chávez de Visita en Irán hasta el Lunes,”
El Universal
(Caracas), May 18, 2001,
http://buscador.eluniversal.com/2001/05/18/eco_art_18202GG.shtml
.

  
7
.
   
As cited in “Venezuela e Irán en Camino Hacia una ‘Alianza Estratégica,’ ”
El Universal
(Caracas), May 21, 2001,
http://www.eluniversal.com/2001/05/21/eco_art_21204AA
.

  
8
.
   
Sean Goforth,
Axis of Unity: Venezuela, Iran and the Threat to America
(Washington, DC: Potomac Books, 2012), 31.

  
9
.
   
Victor Flores, “Venezuela-Iranian Anti-Washington Alliance,” Agence France-Presse, September 17, 2006.

10
.
   
Parisa Hafezi, “Iran, Venezuela in ‘Axis of Unity’ against U.S.,” Reuters, July 2, 2007,
http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/07/02/us-iran-venezuela-idUSDAH23660020070702
.

11
.
   
Norman A. Bailey,
Iran’s Venezuelan Gateway
, Iran Strategy Brief, no. 5 (American Foreign Policy Council, February 2012), 2.

12
.
   
See Martin Rodil, “A Venezuelan Platform for Iran’s Military Ambitions,” in
Iran’s Strategic Penetration of Latin America
, ed. Joseph M. Humire and Ilan Berman.

13
.
   
See, for example, “Venezuela Aids Iranian Missile Sales to Syria, Intelligence Agencies Say,” Global Security Newswire, December 22, 2008,
http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/venezuela-aids-iranian-missile-sales-to-syria-intelligence-agencies-say/
.

14
.
   
Joana Paraszczuk, “Iran Admits Exporting Drone Tech to Venezuela,”
Jerusalem Post
, December 12, 2012,
http://www.jpost.com/Iranian-Threat/News/Iran-admits-exporting-drone-tech-to-Venezuela
.

15
.
   
U.S. Department of Defense,
Unclassified Report on Military Power of Iran
,
April 2010
,
http://www.iranwatch.org/sites/default/files/us-dod-reportmiliarypoweriran-0410.pdf
.

16
.
   
“Kuwaitis among Trainees in ‘Guards’ Latin Camp,”
Arab Times
, April 28, 2011,
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/NewsDetails/tabid/96/smid/414/ArticleID/168534/reftab/36/Default.aspx
.

17
.
   
Ibid.

18
.
   
Martin Arostengui, “U.S. Ties Caracas to Hezbollah Aid,”
Washington
Times
, July 7, 2008,
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jul/07/us-ties-caracas-to-hezbollah-aid/?page=1
.

19
.
   
Julio A. Cirino, Silvana L. Elizondo, and Geoffrey Wawro, “Latin America’s Lawless Areas and Failed States: An Analysis of New Threats,” in
Latin American Security Challenges: A Collaborative Inquiry from North to South
(Newport, RI: Naval War College, 2004), 22
–
23.

20
.
   
Ely Karmon, “Iran and Its Proxy Hezbollah: Strategic Penetration in Latin America,” Real Instituto Elcano, April 8, 2009,
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/web/rielcano_en/contenido?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/elcano/elcano_in/zonas_in/international+terrorism/dt18-2009#.VRHb9Sjy-lc
; Alan Levine, “Hugo’s Hezbollah,”
FrontPageMag.com
, December 11, 2008,
http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=33373
.

21
.
   
Bailey,
Iran’s Venezuelan Gateway.

22
.
   
Figures derived from the International Monetary Fund’s Direction of Trade Statistics database (compilation in author’s collection).

23
.
   
“Obama Signs Law against Iran’s Influence in Latin America,” Agence France-Presse, December 29, 2012,
http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2012/12/29/obama-signs-law-against-irans-influence-in-latin-america
.

24
.
   
Hugh Tomlinson, “Tehran Opens 24-Hour News TV,”
Times of London
, February 1, 2012,
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/middleeast/article3304624.ece
.

25
.
   
See “Irán Se Escuchará en Español con el Canal Hispan TV,”
Correo de Orinoco
(Caracas), July 18, 2011,
http://www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve/multipolaridad/iran-se-escuchara-espanol-canal-hispan-tv/
. A list of countries where HispanTV is broadcast is available online at
http://hispantv.com/Distribucion.aspx
. Notably, the United States is among those countries where cable providers accept and distribute the Iranian channel.

26
.
   
Ian Black, “Iran to Launch Spanish-Language Television Channel,”
The Guardian
(London), September 30, 2010,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/30/iran-spanish-language-television
; “Iran Launches Spanish TV Channel,” Associated Press, January 31, 2012,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/31/iran-launches-spanish-tv-channel
.

27
.
   
Regional experts and journalists, in discussion with the author, Quito, Ecuador, May 2012. Interviews conducted in confidentiality.

28
.
   
Joseph Humire, “Iran’s Informal Ambassadors to Latin America,”
Latino.FoxNews.com
,
February 18, 2012,
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/02/18/joseph-humire-irans-informal-ambassadors-to-latin-america/
.

29
.
   
U.S. Department of Defense,
Unclassified Report on Military Power of Iran, April 2010
.

30
.
   
Kaveh L. Afrasiabi, “Iran and the Left in Latin America,” Asia Times Online, September 4, 2008,
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JI04Ak01.html
.

31
.
   
“Bolivia Moving Mideast Embassy to Iran from Egypt,” Associated Press, September 5, 2008,
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-09-05-3373415607_x.htm
.

32
.
   
Journalists, activists, and opposition politicians, in discussion with the author, La Paz and Santa Cruz, Bolivia, January–February 2012. Interviews conducted in confidentiality.

33
.
   
“Iran ‘Partner’ in the Industrialization of Bolivia’s Lithium Reserves,” MercoPress, October 30, 2010,
http://en.mercopress.com/2010/10/30/iran-partner-in-the-industrialization-of-bolivia-s-lithium-reserves
.

34
.
   
Opposition politicians and government officials, in discussion with the author, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina, January–February 2012. Interviews conducted in confidentiality.

35
.
   
“Gobierno Boliviano Rectifica Hallazgo de Uranio en La Paz,”
El Tiempo
(Bogota), August 29, 2012,
http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-12174392
.

36
.
   
Government officials and private-sector experts, in discussion with the author, Santiago, Chile, January 2012. Interviews conducted in confidentiality.

37
.
   
“Iran Loans Bolivia 280 Million USD to Develop Industry and Energy Sector,” MercoPress, July 31, 2009,
http://en.mercopress.com/2009/07/30/iran-loans-bolivia-280-million-usd-to-develop-industry-and-energy-sector
.

38
.
   
“Bolivia to Buy Warplanes, Helicopters from Iran,”
Latin American Herald Tribune
, n.d.,
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=374965&CategoryId=14919
.

39
.
   
“Iranian President Meets with Bolivia’s Morales Reinforce Cooperation Deals,” MercoPress, June 20, 2012,
http://en.mercopress.com/2012/06/20/iranian-president-meets-with-bolivia-s-morales-reinforce-cooperation-deals
.