Move FM Global News

BEIRUT, Lebanon – The Lebanese group Hezbollah has hit back following the move by Britain to designate its political wing as a terrorist group.

The UK move, announced on Monday, and approved by the House of Commons on Thursday, takes the British government full circle. Hezbollah’s external security wing was originally designated a terrorist group by Britain in 2001. The military wing of Hezbollah followed in 2008.

Britain  has long come under pressure from  the United States, particularly the U.S. Congress, to fall into line with the U.S.

“Hezbollah is continuing in its attempts to destabilize the fragile situation in the Middle East, and we are no longer able to distinguish between their already banned military wing and the political party,” Home Secretary Sajid Javid said Monday.“Because of this, I have taken the decision to proscribe the group in its entirety,” he said.

The Iran-backed Shiite group is designated a terrorist organization by the United States.

Whilst the group has largely centered its activities in Lebanon, describing itself as a resistance group, it has in recent years been involved in supporting the Syrian government in its civil war. It has also been a fierce opponent of Islamic State.

Hezbollah meantime says the move by Britain demonstrates “servile obediance” to the U.S.

The Shiite group, which is supported by Iran, issued a statement Friday insisting it is “a resistance movement against Israeli occupation,” and said the British designation was an “insult to the feelings, sympathies and will of the Lebanese people that consider Hezbollah a major political and popular force.”

“Hezbollah sees in this decision servile obedience to the U.S. administration, revealing that the British government is but a mere a follower in service of its American master,” the statement said.

The embattled group was supported in its opposition to the move by Iran.

“This British measure signifies deliberately ignoring a large part of the Lebanese people and the legitimacy and the legal position of Hezbollah in Lebanon’s administrative and political structure,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said in a statement, according to the state news agency IRNA.

“In addition to helping preserve Lebanon’s territorial integrity over recent decades, Hezbollah has been one of the pillars of the fight against terrorism and terrorist groups such as Islamic State in the region,” Qasemi said.

Hezbollah hold three of Lebanon’s 30 ministry portfolios.

“We consider that this matter pertains to Britain, not Lebanon,” Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt reaffirmed his country’s support for “a stable and prosperous Lebanon.”

On Saturday Bahrain Foreign Minister Khaled Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa called on the European Union to follow the British lead and list Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist group.