In an unprecedented revelation, Sayyed Issa Tabatabai, the appointed representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Lebanon, confirmed the role of the Iranian regime in the tragic bombings from the early 1980s in Beirut that resulted in the loss of countless American military and diplomatic personnel.
This game-changing admission was first uncovered and translated by The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). The information was quickly redacted from the Islamic Republic News Agency’s (IRNA) records, yet MEMRI was vigilant in retaining an original copy.
For years, many believed that Iran, in conjunction with their primary ally – the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon – orchestrated the deadly 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut that killed 63 individuals, including 17 Americans.
This belief was further reinforced with the devastating dual-suicide truck bombings that tragically took the lives of 220 U.S. Marines, 18 U.S. Navy sailors, 3 U.S. Army soldiers, and 58 French troops in Lebanon later the same year.
Tabatabai’s shocking admissions during his interview with IRNA included, “I quickly went to Lebanon and provided what was needed in order to [carry out] martyrdom operations where the Americans and Israelis were.”
He continued, “The efforts to establish [Hezbollah] started in [Lebanon’s] Baalbek area, where members of [Iran’s] Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) arrived. I had no part in establishing the [political] party [Hezbollah], but God made it possible for me to continue the military activity with the group that had cooperated with us prior to the [Islamic] Revolution’s victory.”
The MEMRI report also said, “It is noteworthy that the part of the interview in which Tabatabai acknowledged receiving Khomeini’s fatwa ordering attacks on American and Israeli targets in Lebanon was removed by IRNA from its website shortly after publication.”
“This is apparently because no official representative of [Ayatollah Ruhollah] Khomeini, the father of the Islamic Republic, or of Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, had ever said that Iran had any involvement in ordering, planning and carrying out the massive bombings in Lebanon against U.S.,” wrote MEMRI.
Tabatabai continued, shedding light on the Iranian regime’s involvement in establishing Hezbollah and even went so far as to suggest that their foundational meetings occurred in his residence.
“With the victory of the Islamic Revolution [in Iran], Hezbollah was established [in the summer of 1982]. For two years, [Hezbollah’s] military base was located in my home. ‘The group’ [supporters of the Islamic Revolution] signed a contract declaring their willingness to become martyrs. Perhaps more than 70 [of them] signed this contract in my home,” Tabatabai said.
Highlighting the weight and importance of Tabatabai’s role within the Iranian regime, he was recently featured on Iran’s Foreign Affairs Ministry English website. This appearance solidified his position and importance within the highest echelons of Iran’s governing structure.
For years, the U.S. State Department has regarded Iran’s governing body as a predominant global sponsor of terrorism. MEMRI’s discovery might open the floodgates for renewed lawsuits against Iran, holding them accountable for the lives of American military and diplomatic personnel they’ve taken.
Banafsheh Zand, an Iranian-American authority on the Iranian regime, articulated that the uncensored admission from Tabatabai might indicate a fracture within the regime’s hierarchy. She speculated, “For Tabatabai to acknowledge such a malevolent act, he must feel secure against retribution from his superiors, or perhaps he believes he has nothing more to lose.”
Zand further speculated that, given the eagerness of the Biden and Macron administrations for an agreement with Iran, this significant disclosure might be conveniently overlooked.
Despite this groundbreaking revelation and its implications for international relations, neither the State Department nor the National Security Council offered any comments or answers to inquiries. Likewise, the Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry and its U.N. mission remained silent in response to press questions.
Michael Rubin, a recognized authority on Iran affiliated with the American Enterprise Institute, told Fox News Digital, “Americans have astonished both Iranians and the victims of Iranian terrorism with the diplomatic contortions undertaken to avoid holding Iran to account.
Now that the supreme leader’s representative has confessed, the questions are: (1) Will Americans who carried water for Iranian terrorism apologize? (2) Will Iran pay compensation to the victims of their terror? If [President] Biden prices five Americans at $6 billion, the U.S. should demand no less than $289.2 billion from Iran today.”
British-Iranian expert, Potkin Azarmehr, lamented, “It seems no matter how many times the Western leaders witness the fallout of their appeasement with terrorists, they remain resigned to tread the same failed path they’ve journeyed for decades.”
