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Matthew Levitt is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), a “pro-Israel” think tank spun off from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The director of WINEP’s Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, Levitt is a frequently cited commentator on counterterrorism policy and regularly testifies before congressional committees.

A central focus of Levitt's work is Iran's alleged support of international terrorist organizations. "As Iran presses on in its efforts to become a nuclear power," Levitt wrote in July 2012 testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, "the regime in Tehran also employs an aggressive foreign policy that relies heavily on the deployment of clandestine assets abroad to collect intelligence and support foreign operations. The world’s most active state sponsor of terrorism, Tehran relies on terrorism to further Iranian foreign policy interests."[1] In contrast to Levitt, U.S. intelligence agencies did not think that Iran was actively working towards nuclear weapons as of early 2013.

Levitt's 2012 testimony came as Congress was considering levying new sanctions against Iran, which observers warned "could undermine efforts to resolve the longstanding impasse over Iran’s nuclear programme peacefully."[2] In the past, Levitt has called sanctions against Tehran "tremendously effective," adding that they must be used in conjunction with "military options," "covert actions," and "diplomatic options."[3]

Among Iranian proxies, Levitt places a particular emphasis on Hezbollah, the subject of his 2013 book, Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God. Although Hezbollah primarily operates within Lebanon, Levitt has accused the group of serving as an agent of Iran's "asymmetric war” against the West.[4] In 2013 testimony before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee, Levitt linked the group to “terrorist plots in Azerbaijan, Thailand, Cyprus, Bulgaria, kidnapping plots in Africa, [the delivery of] weapons to Houthi rebels in Yemen, and more.” Levitt, who has complained that Washington receives "limited help from Europe" with respect to tracking Hezbollah's operations,[5] concluded by warning Europe to “designate Hezbollah—in whole or in part—a terrorist group,” adding that “failure to do so could result in still more attacks by an emboldened Hezbollah.”[6]

To fund its operations, according to Levitt, Hezbollah operates “a sophisticated, organized and global crime network.” Levitt links the group variously to drug trafficking in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, cigarette smuggling in North Carolina, and robberies in Philadelphia. Echoing other rightist political actors who have warned of a “Hezbollah-Latin America” axis (like Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and the Hudson Institute’s Jaime Daremblum), Levitt claims that “most of Hezbollah's illicit operations take place in the loosely regulated triborder area where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet.” He adds that “ties between Hezbollah and drug cartels along the U.S.-Mexico border have also grown in recent years.”[7]

In other writings, Levitt has called for the United States to employ "all elements of national power" to counter extreme Islamist ideologies. "Fortifying our defenses at home and pursuing our adversaries abroad is simply not enough," he wrote in a 2010 WINEP strategic report. "Our ultimate adversary is not the individual bomber, but the radical ideology that propels him to carry out an act of terrorism."[8]

Levitt founded WINEP’s Terrorism Research Program in 2001 after a stint as an FBI analyst. Levitt directed the project (which was later renamed the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence) until 2005, when he left WINEP to fill counterterrorism posts in the Bush administration’s Treasury and State Departments. He returned to WINEP after his government service ended in 2009.[9]

Please note: IPS Right Web neither represents nor endorses any of the individuals or groups profiled on this site.