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LONDON-Iran has placed priority on the training of Hizbullah operatives at all levels.Western intelligence sources said Teheran has been training thousands of Hizbullah fighters in camps throughout Iran. The sources said the training was part of the lessons drawn from the 34-day Hizbullah war with Israel in mid-2006."Until less than two years ago, Hizbullah only trained the elite of Hizbullah," a Western source said. "Now, Iran is training every Hizbullah combat unit."The sources said nearly 4,000 Hizbullah fighters per year were meant to be trained in Iran. They said the intensified training effort began in November 2006 and stipulated that at least 300 operatives per month fly from Beirut to Teheran.The Iranian training course has been given by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and meant to last for three months. The sources said the Hizbullah fighters were trained in combat skills, night-vision, rocket and anti-tank fire as well as reconnaissance.In March 2008, more than 20 Hizbullah cadets were killed during a live-fire exercise in Iran. It was not clear how the Hizbullah fighters died."The training in Iran lies at the heart of our connections with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard," Mohammed Ali Husseini, director-general of the Islamic Union in Lebanon, said. "This is known to all Lebanese people." On April 14, a senior Hizbullah commander warned of an attack on Israel. The unidentified commander told Syria's Al Haqiqa magazine that Hizbullah would launch an offensive from the Gaza Strip and West Bank in case of a war in Lebanon."We would not initiate war, but in case they wage any war in the future," the commander was quoted as saying. "There will be a counter-attack behind the front lines and for the first time since 1948 in Palestine itself."As in the days of Noah...
