I sided with the conventional view that Iran approved the move (responding to Ralph Peters who said Iran was dragged in) and that if there was any surprise for Tehran it was the failure of the Sunni world to initially rally to Hizbollah and the scale of the Israeli reaction:
I think Iran is leading. Just because Luttwak's analysis shows Iran to have badly judged Arab government reaction to the clash doesn't mean that Iran didn't assume that Sunni Arabs would rally even to Shias in a conflict with Israel. Worked in the past, after all.
And Iran may have underestimated Israel's will to respond forcefully to the attacks since Sharon passed from the scene.
But at some point, the question of who started the parade is irrelevant. If Iran rushes to the front even though Hizbollah started it, it becomes Iran's parade.
Well, if they are to be believed, Hizbollah confirms their chain of command:
In a 15 April interview with the Iranian Arabic language TV station ‘al Qawthar’, Hizbullah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Kassem, told the interviewer that suicide bombings, terrorist attacks and even artillery barrages against Israeli civilians all receive prior approval from the Ayatollah’s in Teheran.
Explain to me again why every American ally that willingly helps us is derided as a poodle, but actual hand puppets of Iran like Syria and Hizbollah never get tainted as foreign-controlled entities?
