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Hashem Safieddine

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Hashem Safieddine
هاشم صفي الدين
Safieddine in 2016
Head of Hezbollah's Executive Council
Incumbent
Assumed office
July 2001
Personal details
Born1964 (age 59–60)
Deir Qanoun En Nahr, Lebanon
Political partyHezbollah
Relatives

Hashem Safieddine (Arabic: هاشم صفي الدين; born 1964) is a Lebanese Shia cleric who has served as the head of Hezbollah's Executive Council since 2001. A maternal cousin of Hassan Nasrallah, Safieddine was generally considered the "number two" in Hezbollah before Nasrallah's assassination in 2024.[1][2] Safieddine has been declared a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the United States and a terrorist by Saudi Arabia.[3][4][5]

Early life

Safieddine was born in 1964 in Deir Qanoun En Nahr, southern Lebanon, to a respected Shia family.[6] He is a maternal cousin of Hassan Nasrallah.[7] His brother, Abdallah Safi Al Din, is Hezbollah's representative to Iran[6] and according to the conclusions of Project Cassandra, oversees trafficking networks of weapons, cash, commercial products and narcotics, as well as money laundering and the procurement of parts and technology for Iran's clandestine nuclear and ballistic missile programs.[8][9][10]

Safieddine studied theology in Najaf, Iraq, and in Qum, Iran, together with Nasrallah,[11] until he was recalled to Lebanon by Hassan Nasrallah in 1994,[12][3] and had been groomed by Nasrallah as a successor ever since.[13]

Career

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In 1995, Safieddine was promoted to the Majlis al-Shura (Consultative Assembly), the highest council in Hezbollah,[3] after which he operated under Imad Mughniyeh, until the latter's assassination in 2008. He was also appointed head of the Jihad Council.[3] The Executive Council, of which he is president, oversees Hezbollah's political, social, and educational activities.[4][14]

Until Nasrallah's assassination on 27 September 2024, Al Din was among the three major leaders of Hezbollah. The other two were Hassan Nasrallah and Naim Qassem.[15] He was regarded as second only to Nasrallah.[11]

In 2006, Safieddine was reportedly promoted by Iran as a possible successor to Hassan Nasrallah for the post of secretary-general of Hezbollah.[3][16]

Safieddine is one of six clerics who are members of the shura council of Hezbollah.[17] He is the head of the executive council of the group, also known as Shura Tanfiziyah,[18] to which he was elected in the general assembly meeting in July 2001.[19][20] He is one of nine members of the deciding consultative council (Shura al-Qarar), which is the top body of the group.[21]

In October 2008, Safieddine was elected to succeed Nasrallah as secretary general of Hezbollah in the general meeting.[22][23] His appointment as heir apparent to Nasrallah was supported by Iranians.[21] In 2009, Al Din was again elected to the Shura Council.[24] In November 2010, he was appointed as Hezbollah's military commander of the Southern Lebanon region.[25]

In 2017, Safieddine was designated a terrorist by the U.S. Department of State[26] and Saudi Arabia.[6][5] In 2018, he was subject to sanctions imposed by the US and some Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, in addition to nine other senior Hezbollah figures.[27]

After the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Safieddine has been called the most likely candidate for the position.[28] He is recognized for his similarity to Nasrallah in both appearance and manner of speaking, notably including a shared speech impediment,[29] and has strong ties with Iran and the Ayatollah regime.[5]

Personal life

In June 2020, his son, Sayyed Reza Hashim Safi Al Din married Zeinab Soleimani, daughter of former Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by an American air-strike in Iraq in 2020.[7]

Controversies

In 2020 the United States issued sanctions against two Lebanon based companies, Arch Consulting and Meamar Construction. Both companies are subordinate to the Executive council of Hezbollah,[30] receive guidance and direction from sultan Khalifah As’ad and Hashim Safi Al Din,[31][32][33] and are accused of concealing money transfers to the accounts of Hezbollah leadership, "while the Lebanese people suffer from inadequate services".[30][33]

In 2024 it was rumored that Reza Hashim Safi Al Din, son of Hashim Safi Al Din, was arrested on charges of spying for Israel. These allegations have been denied.[34]

References

  1. ^ Tal Beeri (8 June 2022). "Hashem Safi al-Din – Head of Hezbollah's Executive Council (and Hassan Nasrallah's Designated Successor?)". Alma Research and Education Center. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Lebanon: Hezbollah's Rising Star". Stratfor. 17 November 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e David A. Daoud (4 June 2017). "State Department Blacklists Hashem Saffiedine". Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017.
  4. ^ a b "State Department Terrorist Designations of Hashem Safieddine and Muhammad al-Isawi". United States Department of State. 19 May 2017. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017.
  5. ^ a b c "Who is Hashem Safieddine, Hassan Nasrallah's potential successor? | World News - Hindustan Times".
  6. ^ a b c "Senior Hezbollah figure Hashem Safi al-Din publicly stated Hezbollah participates in the campaign in south Syria". Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. 29 July 2018.
  7. ^ a b Ahmad Rafat (7 July 2020). "A Marriage of Convenience Bolsters Iran's Mideast Presence". Kayhan Life. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  8. ^ "The secret backstory of how Obama let Hezbollah off the hook". POLITICO. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  9. ^ "Abdallah Safi-Al-Din". Counter Extremism Project. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  10. ^ "Treasury Targets Key Hizballah Financing Network and Iranian Conduit". U.S. Department of the Treasury. 20 September 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Sayyed Nasrallah re-elected for another term". The Weekly Middle East Reporter. 5 December 2009. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  12. ^ David A. Daoud (4 June 2017). "State Department Blacklists Hashem Saffiedine". Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017.
  13. ^ "Who is Hashem Safieddine, potential new leader of Hezbollah?". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  14. ^ John Davison (21 May 2017). Mark Potter (ed.). "Hezbollah calls U.S. administration 'mentally impeded' during Trump Saudi visit". Archived from the original on 17 August 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2019. Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, president of the Iran-backed Shi'ite group's executive council, said Washington would not be able to do any real harm to Hezbollah.
  15. ^ "IRGC-Hezbollah Captagon Ring Compromised by War Over Profits". Middle East Transparent. 27 April 2012. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  16. ^ Shmuel Bar (29 October 2006). "Lebanese Hizballah – Political, Ideological and Organizational Highlights" (PDF). National Defense University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 June 2017. According to reports from Iran, the Iranians have already appointed him the head of the Executive Council and Nassrallah's cousin as his successor
  17. ^ Barry Rubin, ed. (2010). Guide to Islamist Movements. New York; London: M.E. Sharpe. p. 329. ISBN 978-0-7656-1747-7.
  18. ^ Dominique Avon; Anaïs-Trissa Khatchadourian; Jane Marie Todd (2012). Hezbollah: A History of the "Party of God". Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-674-06752-3.
  19. ^ Ahmad Nizar Hamzeh (2004). In The Path of Hizbullah. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-8156-3053-1.
  20. ^ "Hezbollah (part I)" (PDF). Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. July 2003. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  21. ^ a b Shmuel Bar (29 October 2006). "Lebanese Hizballah – Political, Ideological and Organizational Highlights" (PDF). Center for Complex Operations. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  22. ^ Dudi Cohen (13 October 2008). "Nasrallah replacement chosen". Ynetnews. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  23. ^ "Kuwaiti daily reports extension of Nasrallah mandate". Now Lebanon. 1 November 2008. Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  24. ^ Shimon Shapira (17 December 2009). "Has Hizbullah Changed?" (PDF). Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  25. ^ Larbi Sadiki (21 June 2011). "Hezbollah and the Arab revolution". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  26. ^ "Hashem Safieddine, Hezbollah's new leader? | Reuters".
  27. ^ Zeina Karam; Bassem Mroue (15 November 2018). "Militant or poet? US sanctions Hezbollah leader's son". Associated Press. Beirut. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  28. ^ "Hashem Safieddine: possible successor to Hezbollah chief Nasrallah - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012". www.al-monitor.com. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  29. ^ "Who will take Hezbollah's helm after Hassan Nasrallah?". Shafaq News. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  30. ^ a b "U.S. blacklists Hezbollah official, Lebanon-based companies | Reuters".
  31. ^ "US imposes sanctions on businesses in Lebanon with links to Hezbollah". Arab News. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  32. ^ "Treasury Targets Hizballah Executive Council Companies and Official". U.S. Department of the Treasury. 20 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  33. ^ a b "US sanctions Hezbollah-linked companies and official, Iranian cyber actors - JNS.org".
  34. ^ "Reports on the son of the senior official of Hezbollah being a spy have been denied". nournews. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
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