State Sponsors of Terrorism: Iran - Syria

IRAN

 

Iran remains the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world. It continues to support the Lebanese Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) Hezbollah, various Palestinian terrorist groups in the Palestinian Territories, and various terrorist groups in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. Since 2003, Iran has bankrolled Iraqi Shia terrorist groups, including Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH), which is a U.S.-designated FTO. Iran has also used the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) to support terrorism. In addition to its ongoing support for Hezbollah in Syria, Iran continues to provide arms, financing, and training to terror groups in Iraq, Afghan, and Yemen.


SYRIA

 

Syria has served for years as a hub for foreign terrorist fighters; the Syrian government harbored and helped transit terrorists into Iraq to fight U.S. and Coalition forces. Those foreign terrorist fighters evolved into, among others, ISIS and al-Nusra Front, brutal terrorist organizations that threaten not only U.S. forces and the Syrian and Iraqi populations, but the civilized world at large.