Saudi security forces arrest Hizbullah recruits

Saudi Arabia's ongoing security crackdown has netted a group of Saudi nationals who had been recruited by Iran-backed Hizbullah, local media reported.

According to security sources, the arrests were made shortly before the group was to meet with Iranian intelligence officers, Okaz newspaper reported Tuesday (November 14th).

The elements had received military training from Hizbullah to carry out terrorist operations in the kingdom, the newspaper reported.

Security experts who spoke with Al-Mashareq said that in terms of the danger this group presents, the arrests are on par with apprehending al-Qaeda or "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) cells in the kingdom.

"The news of the arrest of elements trained by Iran or Hizbullah is not surprising," Col. Jamal al-Nukhaifi of the Saudi police told Al-Mashareq.

Since its inception, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has employed this modus operandi, he said: creating cells to cause confusion and unrest in neighbouring countries in order to facilitate its own expansion.

"Cells belonging to the IRGC or Hizbullah are no less significant than al-Qaeda and ISIS sleeper cells," al-Nukhaifi said.

The current political climate could push Iran to activate these cells to exert pressure on the kingdom, he said, which has clearly announced its determination to stop Iranian expansion and stem IRGC hegemony.

Stem spread of IRGC ideology

It has become necessary to pay attention to the ideological aspect of the IRGC, through which it has sought to penetrate the minds of young people, said Sheikh Hashim al-Mujhid, a Shia cleric from al-Ahsa.

Practical steps should be taken to stem the spread of this ideology, he told Al-Mashareq, along the lines of what has been done to inoculate society against the deviant views and recruitment attempts of extremist groups such as al-Qaeda.

"The IRGC and Hizbullah have been able to penetrate some areas in Saudi Arabia by exploiting sectarian thinking, and encouraging division and rejection of the other," al-Mujhid said, noting that this is harmful to society and must be stopped.

The arrests come at a time when tensions are running high between Saudi Arabia and Iran, after the IRGC-backed Houthis (Ansarallah) fired a ballistic missile from within Yemeni territory towards the Saudi capital on November 4th.