The Islamic Republic of Iran began its efforts to influence Latin America a few years ago, and it was strengthened during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his special relationship with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The National Interest magazine has examined various aspects of this effort in a report and writes that Iran's public image in Latin America appears calm and harmless, with mosques, cultural centers, schools, halal meat inspectors, and even Boy Scout groups. But under the guise of piety and interfaith dialogue, Tehran uses its connections with anti-American regimes and movements to gain a foothold in the region and instill revolutionary Islam in local Muslims. Instead of relying on traditional political tools, it advances its agenda through mosques and religious missions.
Tehran’s use of Iranian and Lebanese Shiite scholars as unofficial agents of the Iranian revolution is nothing new, according to the National Interest. Mohsen Rabbani was the first cleric to arrive in Latin America, arriving in Argentina in 1983 to lead the Al-Tawhid Mosque and work as a halal meat inspector in Buenos Aires. Both jobs seemed harmless, but Rabbani was closely linked to the bombing of a Jewish cultural center in the Argentine capital in 1994.
Rabbani was not alone. Shortly after his arrival in Buenos Aires, another student, Sheikh Taleb Hussein Al-Khazraei, went to Brazil. Alberto Nisman, the Argentine storyteller – who was recently killed – mentioned both of them in a 2013 report on Iranian networks in Latin America.
The dual role of Shiite clerics as religious and political emissaries of the Islamic Revolution was highlighted in 2010, when the US Treasury Department named another sheikh as Hezbollah’s representative in Latin America, saying Bilal Mohsen Wahbi “exchanged information and instructions between Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon and Hezbollah elements in South America” and oversaw counterintelligence activities in the three-pronged front of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, the National Interest adds. He continues his religious-propaganda work unhindered.
They are not alone, the National Interest reports. Alongside dozens of Iranian and Lebanese Shiite clerics, they have been joined by a new generation of locally born scholars. Those who convert to Islam are regularly sent to Qom at Iranian expense to attend scholarly seminars, returning to their countries as unofficial Iranian emissaries.
The US State Department recently announced that Iran's presence in Latin America is diminishing due to a decline in trade and official visits since the Hassan Rouhani administration came to power.
However, The National Interest argues that Iran's influence should not be measured by the number of official visits. Today, that is done by religious envoys, who buy influence, and who convey messages of anti-Americanism and hatred of Israel.
Source: Voice of America
