State Dept. Blasts Iran as ‘Leading State Sponsor of Terrorism’ in New Report

Monica Sanchez | July 19, 2017
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The U.S. Department of State in its annual “Country Report on Terrorism” released on Tuesday again named Iran the leading state sponsor of terrorism in 2016.

While the number of terrorist attacks in 2016 decreased worldwide by 9 percent and total deaths by 13 percent compared to 2015, Iran’s support for terrorist groups – most prominently Lebanon’s Hizballah – “remained undiminished” and "continued to threaten U.S. allies and interests even in the face of U.S.-led intensification of financial sanctions and law enforcement,” wrote the State Department in a press release.

The report deems Iran as the top state sponsor of terror for its support for terrorist groups such as Hizballah in Lebanon, anti-Israel terrorist groups in Gaza, and various groups in Syria, Iraq, and throughout the Middle East.

The report also highlights Iran’s support for the Assad regime in Syria, which the U.S. accuses of committing numerous atrocities against its own people.

“Iran views the Assad regime in Syria as a crucial ally and Syria and Iraq as crucial routes to supply weapons to Hizballah, Iran’s primary terrorist partner,” the report reads. “Iran has facilitated and coerced, through financial or residency enticements, primarily Shia fighters from Afghanistan and Pakistan to participate in the Assad regime’s brutal crackdown in Syria.”

Iran has been designated as a state sponsor of terrorism since 1984.

In terms of non-state actors, the Islamic State terrorist group remains the top terrorist threat in 2016, despite having lost a significant amount of territory, a trend that has accelerated into 2017.

“At the end of 2016, ISIS had not had a significant battlefield victory in either country since May 2015,” the report reads. “For more than two years, the United States has led a 73-member coalition to liberate territory in Iraq and Syria from ISIS, cut off ISIS’s financing, disrupt its plots, counter its narrative, and stop the flow of foreign terrorist fighters. More than 14,000 air strikes have targeted ISIS’s key leaders, heavy weapons, oil tankers, training camps, and its economic infrastructure. In Iraq, ISIS lost several key cities in Anbar, including Ramadi and Fallujah, and Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) – with Coalition air support – launched a broad offensive in Ninewa in October that resulted in ISF penetration into eastern Mosul by the end of the year.

"Two of ISIS’s key operational and transit hubs were also retaken in Syria – Jarabulus by Turkish-backed opposition forces, and Manbij by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Significant pressure is also being put on Raqqa, the de facto “capital” of ISIS, after the SDF launched an offensive to isolate the city in November.”

The State Department report, citing statistics compiled by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland, found that the total number of terrorist attacks in 2016 decreased by 9 percent from 11,774 in 2015 to 11,072.

The report also found a 13 percent decrease in the total number of deaths – from 28,328 to 25,621.

Of those killed in 2016, 16 were American citizens, including four in the March 22 terror attack in Brussels and three in the July 14 terror attack in Nice, France.

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