Iranian soft-power influence efforts in #Lebanon. The Syrian refugee camp “Al-Imam Ali,” located at the eastern entrance to the city of Al-Hermel in the Beqaa Valley, near the government hospital. In the camp—whose funding comes from #Iran and which operates under #Hezbollah’s auspices—228 housing units have been established, and approximately 200 Syrian Shiite and Alawite families reside there. In some cases, family members had been active within the Shiite axis in Syria (Hezbollah auxiliaries, members of Shiite militias, and the like) and were killed during the Syrian civil war.
The Iranian and Hezbollah investment in Syrian refugees—not only in these specific refugees—is a long-term investment. Dependence generates sympathy, and sympathy provides Iran and Hezbollah with the ability to operate on Syrian soil through those refugees who may return to Syria in the future.
