Smilowitz writes: "An annual security report prepared by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and given to the Senate did not include Iran or Hezbollah as terror threats."
Lebanese Hezbollah supporters wave a Syrian flag under an Ayatollah Ali Khamenei portrait in 2012. (photo: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
18 March 15
n annual security report prepared by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and given to the Senate did not include Iran or Hezbollah as terror threats.
The unclassified Worldwide Threat Assessment even praised Iran for its “intentions to dampen sectarianism, build responsive partners, and deescalate tensions with Saudi Arabia.”
Both Iran and Hezbollah, a militant group and political party in Lebanon, appeared in the “Terrorism” section of the 2014 Worldwide Threat Assessment, with Iran also appearing there in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Iran was cited in this year’s report as both a regional threat to the Middle East and a cyber threat.
Max Abrahms, member at the Council of Foreign Relations, told Newsweek the U.S. may be softening its stance on Iran in exchange for help with counterterrorism.
“The world has changed,” Abrahms told Newsweek. “The Sunni threat has gotten worse, the Islamic State is a greater danger than al-Qaeda ever was, and the Iranians have really come up big in terms of helping us out in combating the Islamic State.”
The U.S. is currently engaged in talks with Iran regarding the nation’s nuclear program.
