SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
Iran's recent turmoil has squeezed its capacity to support Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Lebanese government is under pressure from the U.S. to disarm the militant group, which it's designated as a terrorist organization. NPR's Jane Arraf and producer Jawad Rizkallah report.
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UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing in non-English language).
JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: Here at the tomb of Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut's southern suburbs, the Hezbollah leader killed by Israel two years ago looms even larger than he did in life.
YASIR SAID: Yeah. For me, Mr. Hassan Nasrallah - we trust first God, and after God is Hassan Nasrallah.
ARRAF: That's Yasir Said (ph). He's a 52-year-old businessman among thousands of people gathered last September to mark the one-year anniversary of Nasrallah's death.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Singing in non-English language).
ARRAF: Dozens of the mourners bore the scars of another Israeli attack as a badge of honor. A week before Israel bombed Nasrallah's headquarters in Beirut, it set off coordinated explosions of Hezbollah pagers across the country. The attack killed 42 people and wounded more than 3,500 fighters and civilians. Some limp into the commemoration missing fingers, faces marked with melted skin, some now sightless.
ABBAS: (Non-English language spoken).
ARRAF: "We're stronger now," says Abbas (ph), who lost his left eye, part of both hands and a piece of his leg. Abbas, a civilian working for Hezbollah, has had 16 surgeries. He asks that his last name not be used for security reasons. Israeli attacks have badly weakened Hezbollah. The collapse of the Iranian-backed Assad regime in neighboring Syria also cut off vital weapons shipments from Tehran. Now the group is facing even more economic pressure.
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTOR #1: (Yelling in non-English language).
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTOR #2: (Yelling in non-English language).
ARRAF: Protests over Iran's devastated economy have swept the country. Its economic crisis leaves little room for funding Hezbollah. The U.S. insists that the group disarm. But Hezbollah member of Parliament, Ihab Hamadeh, tells NPR it won't while Israel is still attacking.
IHAB HAMADEH: (Through interpreter) In American law, isn't there the right to self-defense? At the time when Lebanon is being attacked and occupied and its sovereignty violated, what rational person would give up the power that has protected it for 30 years?
ARRAF: Lebanese military leaders won't comment on the issue.
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ARRAF: Lebanon was created from the remains of the Ottoman Empire, when Britain and France carved up the region after World War I. But now it's the United States calling the shots. White House envoy Tom Barrack has made clear that if Lebanon wants financial help with reconstruction amid its long-running economic crisis, it will have to force Hezbollah to lay down its weapons. In an interview with an Emirati news outlet, The National, Barrack made clear the administration's main goal in strengthening the Lebanese Army.
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TOM BARRACK: So they can fight Israel? I don't think so. So you're arming them so they can fight their own people, the Hezbollah. Hezbollah is our enemy. Iran is our enemy.
ARRAF: Hezbollah is a mostly Shia Muslim group created in 1982 to fight what became Israel's 18-year occupation of Lebanon. It has also become a major political party.
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UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting in non-English language).
ARRAF: Since the ceasefire in 2024, the Lebanese Army says Hezbollah has withdrawn from near the Israeli border and that it has secured Hezbollah's weapons there as part of the agreement to transfer security to state forces.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).
ARRAF: But Israel is still attacking. At funerals of those killed, mourners regularly chant death to Israel, and America is the greatest Satan. But Hezbollah has a much more varied support base.
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ARRAF: We're sitting in a cafe in Beirut with Lebanese journalist Hussain Mughniyeh (ph). His father, Imad (ph), was a legendary Hezbollah commander who was killed when Hussain was young.
HUSSAIN MUGHNIYEH: But when we say we, because we know that Hezbollah is a community more than it is just a military force.
ARRAF: He notes that for years, particularly in the south, Hezbollah provided services the Lebanese government did not.
MUGHNIYEH: A lot of citizens have benefited from Hezbollah social services, like health care, providing food at subsidized costs, medicine, electricity.
ARRAF: A lot of it was funded by Tehran. But with Iran in turmoil amid protests over its collapsing economy, Hezbollah might not be able to count on Iranian help much longer. Jane Arraf, NPR News, Beirut. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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