Hezbollah
In 1982, Hezbollah was conceived by Muslim clerics and funded by Iran primarily to fight the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.[12]
Its leaders were followers of Ayatollah Khomeini, and its forces were trained and organized by a contingent of 1,500 Revolutionary Guards that arrived from Iran with permission from the Syrian government, which occupied Lebanon's eastern highlands, permitted their transit to a base in the Bekaa valley[45] which was in occupation of Lebanon at the time.
Scholars differ as to when Hezbollah came to be a distinct entity.
Various sources list the official formation of the group as early as 1982[79][80][81] whereas Diaz and Newman maintain that Hezbollah remained an amalgamation of various violent Shi'a extremists until as late as 1985.[82]
Another version states that it was formed by supporters of Sheikh Ragheb Harb, a leader of the southern Shia resistance killed by Israel in 1984.[83]
Regardless of when the name came into official use, a number of Shi'a groups were slowly assimilated into the organization, such as
Organization of the Oppressed on Earth and
the Revolutionary Justice Organization.
These designations are considered to be synonymous with Hezbollah by the US,[84] Israel[85] and Canada.[86]