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Iran's Extending Influence in the Western Hemisphere

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Iran's Extending Influence in the Western Hemisphere THREAT TO THE HOMELAND: IRAN’S EXTENDING INFLUENCE IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND MANAGEMENT EFFICIENCY OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JULY 9, 2013 Serial No. 113–24 Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 85–689 PDF WASHINGTON : 2014 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas, Chairman LAMAR SMITH, Texas BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi PETER T. KING, New York LORETTA SANCHEZ, California MIKE ROGERS, Alabama SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas PAUL C. BROUN, Georgia YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan, Vice Chair BRIAN HIGGINS, New York PATRICK MEEHAN, Pennsylvania CEDRIC L. RICHMOND, Louisiana JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania RON BARBER, Arizona JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah DONDALD M. PAYNE, JR., New Jersey STEVEN M. PALAZZO, Mississippi BETO O’ROURKE, Texas LOU BARLETTA, Pennsylvania TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii CHRIS STEWART, Utah FILEMON VELA, Texas RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina STEVEN A. HORSFORD, Nevada STEVE DAINES, Montana ERIC SWALWELL, California SUSAN W. BROOKS, Indiana SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania MARK SANFORD, South Carolina GREG HILL, Chief of Staff MICHAEL GEFFROY, Deputy Chief of Staff/Chief Counsel MICHAEL S. TWINCHEK, Chief Clerk I. LANIER AVANT, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND MANAGEMENT EFFICIENCY JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina, Chairman PAUL C. BROUN, Georgia RON BARBER, Arizona LOU BARLETTA, Pennsylvania DONALD M. PAYNE, JR., New Jersey RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina BETO O’ROURKE, Texas STEVE DAINES, Montana BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi (Ex Officio) MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas (Ex Officio) RYAN CONSAUL, Subcommittee Staff Director DEBORAH JORDAN, Subcommittee Clerk TAMLA SCOTT, Minority Subcommittee Staff Director (II) C O N T E N T S Page STATEMENTS The Honorable Jeff Duncan, a Representative in Congress From the State of South Carolina, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight and Manage- ment Efficiency: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 1 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 13 The Honorable Beto O’Rourke, a Representative in Congress From the State of Texas: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 14 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 15 The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress From the State of Mississippi, and Ranking Member, Committee on Homeland Security: Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 16 WITNESSES Mr. Ilan Berman, Vice President, American Foreign Policy Council: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 17 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 19 Mr. Joseph M. Humire, Executive Director, Center for a Secure Free Society: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 26 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 28 Mr. Blaise Misztal, Acting Director of Foreign Policy, Bipartisan Policy Cen- ter: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 39 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 41 Mr. Douglas Farah, President, IBI Consultants: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 50 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 53 FOR THE RECORD The Honorable Jeff Duncan, a Representative in Congress From the State of South Carolina, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight and Manage- ment Efficiency: Statement of Dr. Matthew Levitt, Director, Stein Program on Counterter- rorism and Intelligence, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy ... 1 Statement of Robert Raben, Executive Director, American Task Force Ar- gentina ............................................................................................................... 9 APPENDIX Questions From Chairman Jeff Duncan for Ilan Berman .................................... 79 Questions From Chairman Jeff Duncan for Joseph M. Humire .......................... 80 Questions From Chairman Jeff Duncan for Douglas Farah ................................ 81 (III) THREAT TO THE HOMELAND: IRAN’S EXTEND- ING INFLUENCE IN THE WESTERN HEMI- SPHERE Tuesday, July 9, 2013 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND MANAGEMENT EFFICIENCY, COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:00 p.m., in Room 311, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Jeff Duncan [Chairman of the subcommittee] presiding. Present: Representatives Duncan, Barletta, Hudson, McCaul (ex officio), and O’Rourke. Also Present: Representatives Jackson Lee and Vela. Mr. DUNCAN. The Committee on Homeland Security Sub- committee on Oversight and Management Efficiency will come to order. The purpose of this hearing is to examine the threat that the Is- lamic Republic of Iran poses to the United States from its extend- ing influence in the Western Hemisphere. Before I begin my open- ing statement, I would like to ask unanimous consent that a writ- ten statement by Dr. Matthew Levitt from the Washington Insti- tute for Near East Policy and a letter from the American Task Force Argentina be entered into the record. Hearing no objection, so ordered. [The information follows:] STATEMENT OF DR. MATTHEW LEVITT1, DIRECTOR, STEIN PROGRAM ON COUNTERTER- RORISM AND INTELLIGENCE, THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY JULY 9, 2013 Chairman Duncan, Ranking Member Barber, distinguished Members of the Sub- committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Effi- ciency, it is an honor to be able to submit to you written testimony for this timely hearing on Iran’s extending influence in the Western Hemisphere. I apologize for not being able to appear before you in person to provide oral testimony as well, but I had already committed to testifying today in Brussels before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament on the importance of an E.U. designa- tion of Hezbollah. This committee’s hearing here in Washington is equally impor- tant, however, so I am very grateful to the committee for generously allowing me the opportunity to submit this written testimony. As Iran geared up for its June 14 presidential election, the activities of its power- ful intelligence services were also kicking into high gear across the globe. The U.S. 1 Author, Hezbollah: the Global Footprint of Lebanon’s Party of God (Georgetown University Press and Hurst Publishers, 2013). (1) 2 State Department’s annual terrorism report, released May 30, headlined the ‘‘marked resurgence’’ of Iran’s terrorist activities—and with good reason. ‘‘Iran and Hizballah’s terrorist activity has reached a tempo unseen since the 1990s, with at- tacks plotted in Southeast Asia, Europe, and Africa,’’ the report reads.2 Then there is Iran and Hezbollah’s active support for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s brutal crackdown against his own people. But closer to the United States, Iran not only continues to expand its presence in and bilateral relationships with countries like Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, but it also maintains a network of intelligence agents specifically tasked with sponsoring and executing terrorist attacks in the Western hemisphere. True, the unclassified annex to a recent State Department report on Iranian activity in the Western Hemisphere downplayed Iran’s activities in the region; this material, however, appeared in an introductory section of the annex that listed the author’s self-described ‘‘assumptions.’’ While one assumption noted that ‘‘Iranian interest in Latin America is of concern,’’ another stated that as a result of U.S. and allied ef- forts ‘‘Iranian influence in Latin America and the Caribbean is waning.’’3 The re- ality is that Hezbollah and Iran have both worked long and hard over many years to build up their presence and influence in Latin America. HEZBOLLAH IN LATIN AMERICA Hezbollah’s presence in Latin America is nothing new. Together with Iran, the group was responsible for the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy and, 2 years later, the bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center, both in Buenos Aires. Hezbollah traces its origins in Latin America back to the mid-1980s, long before the Buenos Aires bombings, when its operatives set up shop in the Tri-Border Area (TBA) of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. At the height of the Lebanese civil war, Hezbollah clerics began ‘‘planting agents and recruiting
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