220 Marines, 18 sailors, 3 soldiers, 17 US civilians, 58 French troops killed in 1983 terror attack in Beirut
The representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Lebanon, Sayyed Issa Tabatabai, publicly acknowledged Iran’s involvement in the mass murder of American military and diplomatic personnel during the early 1980s in Beirut. This revelation was initially discovered and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
Tabatabai, who serves as the representative of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Lebanon, made this disclosure during an interview. MEMRI was the first to locate and translate this significant revelation.
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The state-controlled Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) promptly removed the incriminating statement made by Tabatabai regarding Iran’s involvement in the suicide bombings targeting Americans. However, MEMRI retained a copy of this statement for reference and documentation.
Iran and its main strategic ally, the US-designated terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanon, have been responsible for significant acts of violence against the United States. This included the 1983 bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut, which resulted in the deaths of 63 people, including 17 Americans. Furthermore, twin suicide truck bombings targeted the barracks of American and French members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon that same year, resulting in 220 U.S. Marines, 18 U.S. Navy sailors, and 3 U.S. Army soldiers dying tragically. Additionally, 58 French soldiers lost their lives in this terrorist attack.
According to a MEMRI translation of Tabatabai’s interview with IRNA, Tabatabai said, “I quickly went to Lebanon and provided what was necessary to carry out martyrdom operations in the place where the Americans and Israelis were.” He explained that efforts to establish Hezbollah began in the Baalbek region of Lebanon, where members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) were deployed. Although he claims not to have been directly involved in founding the Hezbollah political party, he has indicated that he continued military operations with a group that cooperated with Iran before the success of the Islamic Revolution.
The MEMRI report further highlighted that shortly after IRNA published the part of the interview in which Tabatabai admitted to receiving a fatwa from Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ordering attacks on American and Israeli targets in Lebanon, it was removed from its website. This is a notable exception, as neither Ayatollah Khomeini, considered the father of the Islamic Republic, nor an official spokesman for Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has previously acknowledged Iran’s involvement in organizing, planning, and executing extensive bombings in Lebanon. As suggested by MEMRI, the U.S. Targeting benefits.
In the interview, Tabatabai also revealed, “With the success of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Hezbollah was founded in the summer of 1982. For two years, Hezbollah’s military operations were headquartered in my residence. Supporters of the Islamic Revolution signed a pledge expressing their readiness to become martyrs, and 70 of them More than one person has signed this pledge at my house.”
The importance of Seyyed Issa Tabatabai, the highest-ranking figure in Iran’s regime, has recently become apparent on the English-language website of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. An entry on the website shows Tabatabai meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
During the meeting, according to a statement provided by Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Amir-Abdullahian “underscored the significant support and cooperation of Sayyed Issa Tabatabai in enhancing the position of ‘resistance’ in Lebanon, the region and the Islamic world.”
Michael Rubin, an Iran expert at the American Enterprise Institute, commented, “Americans have stunned Iranians and victims of Iranian terrorism with diplomatic maneuvers to avoid holding Iran accountable. Now that the Supreme Leader’s spokesman has admitted it, the questions are: (1) Will Americans who have supported Iranian terrorism apologize? (2) for their acts of terrorism.” Will Iran compensate the victims? If President Biden estimates the worth of the five Americans at $6 billion, the U.S. should demand no less than $289.2 billion from Iran Today.”
Michael Rubin’s mention of Americans allegedly aiding Iranian terrorism pertains to accusations that Iranian Americans, including one individual working for the Defense Department, were involved in lobbying for the Islamic Republic. It’s worth noting that the U.S. The State Department has designated Iran’s regime as the foremost international state sponsor of terrorism.
The revelation from MEMRI has the potential to trigger new lawsuits against Iran’s regime for its role in the killings of American military and diplomatic personnel. According to MEMRI, “Iran has consistently denied any involvement in the bombings. It did not present a defense in response to the 2001 U.S. lawsuits filed by families of the numerous Americans killed or injured in the barracks bombings.”
US Newzs Digital reported in 2016 that a U.S. Supreme Court decision allowed families of victims of the 1983 bombing in Lebanon and other attacks linked to the Iran regime to access nearly $2 billion in frozen funds from Iran.
Banafsheh Zand, an Iranian-American expert on the Iranian regime, shared her insights with US News Digital, saying, “Issa Tabatabai’s accession represents significant divisions in the regime’s top leadership. None in the clerical or revolutionary ranks. The Guards would accept such a move unless infighting escalated under the leadership of the Shia mafia. In order to openly admit and take responsibility for an act of terrorism, he must be sure that his superiors will not or cannot punish him. Otherwise, he will self-censor and ignore critical details.”
Zand continued, “Yet he didn’t self-censor. He kept all the details, even if some were redacted by later editors. So, either that or he feels he has nothing to lose. In any case, the semblance of any deal with the Khomeinist regime by the Biden administration (and French President Emmanuel Macron) Depending on the interest, these revelations may be underestimated or ignored.”
Tabatabai highlighted in its report that “both Khomeini and his successor, Khamenei, have full confidence in him, emphasizing that he is Khamenei’s trusted representative in Lebanon, handling matters related to finance and the spread of Shiite influence.”
A Pentagon spokesman referred inquiries from US Newzs Digital to the State Department. However, neither the State Department nor the National Security Council responded to those questions.
Potkin Azarmehr, a British-Iranian expert on Iran, commented to US Newzs Digital, “Despite repeatedly seeing the consequences of their appeasement policy towards terrorists, Western leaders seem determined to continue down the same unfortunate path they have followed for the past four decades.”
Several press queries from US Newzs Digital were referred to Iran’s foreign ministry and its U.N. mission for comment, but no response was reported.