Mohammad Raad (; born 22 August 1955) is a Lebanese politician of the Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militia

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

, who serves as member of parliament representing the

Nabatieh District The Nabatieh District is a district in the Nabatieh Governorate of Lebanon. The capital of the district is Nabatieh. Municipalities The following 42 municipalities are all located in the Nabatieh District: * Aadshit * Ain Bouswar * Ain Qa ...

. He leads Hezbollah's political wing called

Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc The Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc () is the political wing of Hezbollah in the Parliament of Lebanon. Along with Amal, it dominates the March 8 Alliance and has held two seats in the Lebanese cabinet since 2012. The party is currently led by ...

in the

Lebanese parliament The Lebanese Parliament (, ) is the unicameral national parliament of the Lebanon, Republic of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year term in Electoral district, multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's divers ...

, which was part of the 8 March Alliance. In 2019, he was sanctioned by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, pursuant to an order that targets

terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism.

Early life and education

Raad was born in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, Lebanon, and is

Shia Muslim Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...

. His family is originally from the town of

Jbaa Jbaa (Arabic: جباع; Syriac: ܓܒܐܥ; Phoenician: 𐤂𐤁𐤀𐤏), is a municipality in Lebanon located about 22 km (14 miles) from Sidon and 64 km (40 miles) from Beirut. It is part of the Nabatieh Governorate. Jbaa is situated ...

southern Lebanon Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa districts, the southernmost distr ...

. He holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the

Lebanese University The Lebanese University (LU; ) is the only state-funded public university in Lebanon. It was established in 1951. The university's main campus was originally located in Beirut, but a few satellite campuses were opened due to travel restriction ...

Career

Early years

Raad is one of the leading figures of the Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militia

, and is the only member of the party to occupy his seat in Parliament (representing

Nabatiyah Nabatieh (, ', Syriac-Aramaic: ܐܠܢܒܛܝܥ), or Nabatîyé (), is a city of the Nabatieh Governorate, in southern Lebanon. History Nabateans The most accepted theory is related to the Nabateans (spelled النبطي), an ancient Arab ...

) since 1992. He is one of the "ideologues" of the party, a member of its executive committee, and former chair of its political council. Raad has been a key political player and has been elected by the

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

Majlis (, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning 'sitting room', used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural connections to the Mus ...

as Lebanon's only representative on the Iranian

Guardian Council The Guardian Council (also called Council of Guardians or Constitutional Council, ) is an appointed and constitutionally mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The constitution ...

. He won a seat from Nabatieh in the 2000 general elections. He has been president of the Hezbollah's political wing

since 2000. In 2001, he said: "Hezbollah is a military resistance party, and it is our task to fight the occupation of our land... There is no separation between politics and resistance." In 2013, Raad was considered to be one of the potential candidates for

Secretary-General of Hezbollah The secretary-general of Hezbollah () is the highest position within Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. The current holder of the position is Naim Qassem, who was appointed on 29 October 2024, a mo ...

in the event that

Hassan Nasrallah Hassan Nasrallah (, ; 31 August 196027 September 2024) was a Lebanese cleric and politician who served as the third secretary-general of Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist political party and militia, from 1992 until his assassination in 2024. Bor ...

were to become the "supreme guide" of the organization, and the power allocated to the post of general secretary consequentially reduced.

2015–19

In February 2015, he said that the West was "begging for" a nuclear agreement with Iran. In January 2019, Raad condemned the “intervention” of the

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

during the

2019 Venezuelan Presidential crisis The Venezuelan presidential crisis was a political crisis concerning the leadership and the legitimate president of Venezuela between 2019 and 2023, with the nation and the world divided in support for Nicolás Maduro or Juan Guaidó. Venezu ...

, and confirmed Hezbollah’s support for Venezuelan president

Nicolás Maduro Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and former union leader serving as the 53rd president of Venezuela since 2013. Previously, he was the 24th Vice President of Venezuela, vice president from 2012 to 20 ...

. In July 2019, he was sanctioned by the United States, pursuant to an order that targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. In October 2019, demonstrators attacked the office of Raad, as they protested against government corruption and incompetence, and the risk of a Lebanese economic crisis.

2020–present

In March 2024, Raad met with Russia's Foreign Minister

Sergei Lavrov Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (, ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2004. He is the longest-serving Russian foreign minister since Andrei Gromyko during the Soviet Union. Lavrov was b ...

, and the following month he announced that Hezbollah would open a representative office in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. In June 2024, Raad criticized people for "going to the beach and nightclubs while the south is under attack.""Raad criticizes Lebanese 'going to the beach and nightclub as the South is under attack', causing a stir; In response to Raad, journalist Dima Sadek wrote sarcastically, "The weather is nice today. I am thinking of destroying the country while at the beach,"
''L'Orient Today'', 26 June 2024 Journalist and MTV Lebanon TV host Dima Sadek wrote sarcastically on social media: "The weather is nice today. I am thinking of destroying the country while at the beach." MP Pierre Bou Assi responded to Raad: "All of

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

is collapsing due to your policies and your illusory and destructive divine victories. Have you strengthened any economic or social resilience in Lebanon? Do you think your Iranian rockets will feed the people?” Also in June 2024, Raad saad that Hezbollah should "invest" in Western university students protesting for Palestine, and use them in order to "enter the heart of Western societies."

Personal life

Raad is married to Fatima al-Burghul, they had 5 children, his son Abbas, a member of Hezbollah's special operations forces

Radwan Force The al-Hajj Radwan Force (, , also spelled Redwan or Ridwan) is a special operation forces unit of Hezbollah. Its main mission is to infiltrate the territory of Israel, with specific attention to Galilee and northern Israel. Hezbollah has train ...

unit, was killed during fighting with Israel following the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel.

References

External links

*Diana Moukalled (20 January 2016)
"Hezbollah hastens to defend the indefensible; Hezbollah’s response has been as strange as the court’s decision to release Michel Samaha,"
''Alarabiya News''. *Makram Rabah (June 28, 2024)
"The Foolishness of Loving Life"
''Now Lebanon''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Raad, Mohammad 1955 births Living people Arab Islamists Hezbollah politicians Lebanese Islamists Lebanese Shia Muslims Lebanese University alumni Members of the Parliament of Lebanon Shia Islamists