Tehran’s Shadow Over Failed Hezbollah Attacks In Latin America

Operation Trapiche revealed the shadow of Iran behind the failed Hezbollah plot in Brazil. According to Brazilian Federal Police documents exclusively obtained by the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), the two masterminds wanted by Interpol, Mohamad Khir Abdulmajid, a naturalized Syrian-Brazilian, and Haissam Houssim Diab, a Lebanese national, had strong connections to the Islamic Beneficent Cultural Center of Brasilia (CCBIB). This Shiite center has been funded by Iran since 2019. Last November IPT reported on Operation Trapiche which exposed a Brazilian net­ work with suspected links to the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah. Abdulmajid and Diab lured at least six Brazilians to Beirut, where they offered them large sums of money to carry out a series of major terror attacks against multiple Jewish and Israeli targets throughout Brazil. The Brazilian Federal Police documents reveal Mohamad Khir Abdulmajid as the primary promoter of establishing the Shia Islamic Center of Brasilia CCBIB in 2019.

Additionally, the center’s board members include Hicham Hussein Diab, the brother of Haissam Houssim Diab, the other mas­ termind uncovered by Operation Trapiche. According to the Brazilian police re­ port, “it is noteworthy that Abdulmajid, believed to be one of the main backers of the Islamic Center’s establishment, is not listed in the corporate structure of the center, despite the overwhelming evidence suggesting his involvement.”

Abdulmajid’s decision to remain beh...