Allies of Iran
Many nations and organizations are considered to be allies of Iran. Iraq, its neighbouring country, has been a major ally since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.
Lebanon
Iran has close ties with Lebanon and considers it an ally. Iran also has close ties with the Lebanese political party Hezbollah and its militia force, [1] to whom it reportedly provides as much as $100 million in supplies and weaponry per year.[2][2] Iran has been a staunch supporter of both Lebanon and Hezbollah against Israel.
Palestinian Authority
The Islamic Republic of Iran (established after the 1979 Iranian Revolution) closed the Israeli embassy in Tehran and replaced it with a Palestinian embassy. Iran favors Palestinian national ambitions and officially endorses the replacement of Israel with a unitary Palestinian state or whatever choice the Palestinian people decide through a democratic vote.
Several Palestinian groups, including Hamas, are Iranian allies. The Iranian government also gives substantial assistance to the Hamas government in Gaza, which is embargoed by Israel and depends on outside sources for an estimated 90% of its budget. Iranian support has not been unconditional however, and in July and August 2011 Iran cut funding to show its displeasure at "Hamas's failure to hold public rallies in support" of Syrian President Bashir al-Assad during the 2011 Syrian uprising. In part for this reason, Hamas was unable to pay July salaries of its "40,000 civil service and security employees."[3]
Russia
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the two neighboring nations have generally enjoyed very close cordial relations. Iran and Russia are strategic allies and form an axis in the Caucasus alongside Armenia.
Syria
Syria and Iran are strategic allies. Syria is often called Iran's "closest ally",[4] the Arab nationalism ideology of Syria's ruling Baath party notwithstanding. During the Iran–Iraq War, Syria sided with non-Arab Iran against its enemy Iraq and was isolated by Saudi Arabia and some of the Arab countries, with the exceptions of Libya, Lebanon, Algeria, Sudan and Oman.[5] Iran and Syria have had a strategic alliance ever since, partially due to their common animosity towards Saddam Hussein and coordination against the United States and Israel. Syria and Iran cooperate on arms smuggling from Iran to the Hezbollah in Lebanon, which borders Israel.[6]
Venezuela
Then presidents of Venezuela and Iran, President Hugo Chavez and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, respectively, both described themselves on the world stage as opposed to "US imperialism". Citing this commonality of opinion, they regarded each other as allies, and they embarked on a number of initiatives together. For example, on January 6, 2007, the two announced that they would use some money from a previously-announced $2bn joint fund to invest in other countries that were "attempting to liberate themselves from the imperialist yoke", in Chavez's words.[7] The two presidents declared an "axis of unity" against "US imperialism".[8]
References
- ^ "Who are Hezbollah?". BBC News. 4 July 2010. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ a b How Iran Keeps Assad in Power in Syria| Geneive Abdo| 29 August 2011
- ^ Iran punishes Hamas for not backing Assad| 23 August 2011
- ^ http://www.google.com/search?q=syria+iran+closest+ally&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&safe=active
- ^ http://iranprimer.usip.org/sites/iranprimer.usip.org/files/Iran%20and%20Syria.pdf
- ^ "welt.de, in german". Welt.de. 16 February 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
- ^ Iran and Venezuela plan anti-U.S. fund, USA Today, January 14, 2007
- ^ "Iran, Venezuela in "axis of unity" against U.S". Reuters. 2 July 2007.
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