Russia has published a list of 17 groups it regards as terrorist organizations. The list includes notorious al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban. But conspicuously missing are Hezbollah and Hamas, both considered terror organizations by Israel and America, and both funded by Iran, a Middle East ally of Russia.

According to the July 28Jerusalem Post,

The Russian Federal Security Service’s top official in charge of fighting international terrorism, Yuri Sapunov, said that Hamas and Hezbollah were not a major threat to Russia and were not regarded as terrorist groups worldwide.

True, Russia is not threatened by Hamas or Hezbollah. Yet the reason for this is due in part to its cozy relationship with Islamic factions dedicated to Israel and America’s destruction. Remember, for example, that Russia coordinated the removal of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and large weapons caches just weeks before America invaded the country by moving them into Syria, and then on into Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Currently, the Bekaa Valley is under the control of Hezbollah.

But even though Hamas and Hezbollah may not threaten Russia, Russia should know that these two Iranian-sponsored terrorist groups threaten world peace and Middle East stability. Iran’s Hezbollah spokesman Mojtaba Bigdeli stated, “We think that this [Hezbollah’s attack on Israel and the ensuing war] is the beginning of the Third World War and we are ready for this” (Napa Valley Register, July 22). Russia’s back-handed support of Hezbollah and Hamas is only going to speed this eventuality along.