File photo of Irani flag. PHOTO: AFP/ FILE
The report cited a series of actual and planned attacks in Europe and Asia linked to Hezbollah, Iran's Lebanon-based ally, including a July 2012 bombing in Bulgaria that killed five Israeli citizens and a Bulgarian, and wounded 32 others.
"The year 2012 was ... notable in demonstrating a marked resurgence of Iran's state sponsorship of terrorism," via Tehran's elite al Quds force, its intelligence ministry, and Hezbollah, the report said. "Iran and Hezbollah's terrorist activity has reached a tempo unseen since the 1990s."
There was no immediate reply to a request for comment from Iran's mission to the United Nations.
Last July, Iran's UN ambassador denied his country's involvement in the Bulgaria bombing, which he accused Israel of carrying out. "We have never, and will not, engage in such a despicable attempt on ... innocent people," Ambassador Mohammed Khazaee said.
The report's release comes as US and European officials and intelligence agencies say Iran and Hezbollah have stepped up their military backing for the besieged government of Syrian President Bashar al Assad.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday publicly committed the group to an Assad victory over Syrian rebels who, like the Damascus government, have been accused of abuses in the two-year-old civil war.
"Both Iran and Hezbollah are providing a broad range of critical support to the Assad regime, as it continues its brutal crackdown against the Syrian people," the State Department report said.
The report covers events in 2012 and does not include such incidents as the Boston Marathon bombings in the United States or last week's brutal killing of a British soldier on a London street.
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@numbersnumbers Syria most free most secular country in the middle east ladies used to wear skarts i means half legs nude! in a Muslim country! i visited long ago the “Arab Spring” you speak is reaching to Bahrain Kowait Uae ksa Arabia Yeman Jordan a very very good news for the Muslims in the middle east remember my friends times has changed zionist cant controle anymore Muslim Lands without paying the price! the power in the middle east is Islamic Republic Of Iran you may agree or not! Destruction in Syria Arab Republic is another game to submit to dictates of the west my friends this is over once and for all! the Occupation of Palestine by the west and their prowxi Isarel the golden age is Over they must go back 1967 frontiers otherwise the invasion and Occupation of all Palestine is possible by the Islamic Forces to come in the near future in Syria foreign aided terrorists has lost the Arab Dictators will be wapporised soon!
@Adil Haider:
Come on bro, Assad Family is ruling for last 42 years. Remember civilian massacre by his father in Hama. Enough is Enough, Bashar could have stepped aside and asked for vote based on his nationalistic stand and or any service his family has done to the people of Syria.
His opposition is not pro Israeli. Right now they are desperate and will take support from anyone. Same as when US went in Iraq to topple Saddam, Iraqi Shias kept quite and let one evil finish other, but then Shia groups turned against USA, shattering their dream of a hero's welcome. Arabs may be oppressed (mostly by their own dictators) but they are not stupid. They know who is their enemy and who is their friend.
Unfortunately Iran and Hezbollah turned a movement for democracy this into a sectarian war, and by supporting a dictator, Iran and Hezbollah are causing waste of lives and resources that could have been used to defend against Israel. Imagine if they have supported democratic movement, they would have make friends with the Syrian opposition, same as they are with HAMAS which is a Sunni dominated group but mostly got help form Shia sources.
@Adil Haider: Wow, too bad you didn't bother to share with us the "Zionist plans" you speak of! By the way, please note how the "Arab Spring" has changed Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt! However, when the Arab Spring reached Syria and the people wanted to be rid of a dictator who thinks that he OWNS the country, the bloodshed began. If anything, the Israelis wanted Assad to stay because of the relative stability he offered, as not so much as a bird has died on the Syria/Golan Heights border over the last 40 or so years! (So much for the much praised "Resistance" by Syria!!!) Maybe you should visit the Pakistani based embassies of Tunisia, Libya and Egypt and ask the staff about how the Israelis plotted to make all these changes happen! Would love to be there to see them laugh in your face and toss you out the door!
@Baba Shakkari:
Hizbollah and Iran support Syrian government despite all its shortcomings because Syria has taken a clear stance against Israeli hegemony in the region and refused to surrender to the Zionist plans.
Iran sees the biggest threat facing Muslims in the Middle East as the "cancerous" Zionist regime.
If one analyzes how Israeli leaders have responded to the crisis developing in Syria it becomes clear that they want Asad to leave. The US too has put all effort behind regime change in Syria.
For this purpose they are stoking the fires of sectarianism in the Muslim world. If you read these stories published through western agencies they try to paint it as a sectarian war. This is because they have identified this as our weak point.
It is high time that Arab leaders realize the dangerous game they are playing with the cause of Islam and Muslims by painting this as a sectarian war.
It is unfortunate that Hezbollah which gained respect for resisting Israeli occupation, and made Israel vacate occupied South Lebanon, and also a organization that runs social programs and participate in Lebanon's democratic process and has elected members of parliament is supporting a Dictator in his killing, whose family has been ruling Syria with iron fist for last 42 years. All because they (Hezbollah and their supporters, the Ayatollahs of Iran) consider Alwaites are an offshoot of Shia Islam (not agreed by all Shia Muslims though). Assad's Bath party is officially a leftist secular party but his administration and military is dominated by his fellow Alwaites.
Based on my enemy's enemy is a friend doctrine, many western and their ally Arab nations (ironically who themselves are kingdoms/dictatorships) are supporting rebels in their quest for democracy. Only if Assad Jr. ( a UK educated doctor) had decided to step aside and hold free elections, many tens of thousands of lives could have been saved. What started as a rebellion for democracy has now become a sectarian war, and also a battle field for proxy wars by several foreign powers.
Ben Ali of Tunisia left just after a few days of unrest and Tunisia saw least bloodshed. Mubarak of Egypt resisted bit more and it saw some violence, Qaddafi decided to fight and caused lots of bloodshed, now Assad is behaving worst, and thus causing huge loss of life. Lust of power is indeed a great evil.
What about US, Israeli and Indian sponsored terrorism? Oh right. They dont sponsor it. They believe it in doing themselves.Its much more effective this way.
"Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday publicly committed the group to an Assad victory over Syrian rebel"
Call it end of game, he do what he say and no power in the whole world can stop him. (He have proved it many times).