Biography of new secretary general of Hizbullah: Sayyid Hashim Safiyuddin
Hashim Safiyuddin born in 1964 is a Lebanese Shia cleric, senior Hizbullah official and a maternal cousin of the former secretary general of Hizbullah, Hassan Nasrallah. He is the head of Hizbullah’s Executive Council, was declared a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the United States, and was generally considered the “number two” in Hizbullah before Nasrallah’s death in 2024.
Hashim Safiyuddin was born in 1964 in Deir Qanoun En Nahr, southern Lebanon, to a respected Shia family. He is a maternal cousin of Hassan Nasrallah. His brother, Abdallah Safi Al Din, is Hizbullah’s representative to Iran.
Hashim Safiyuddin studied theology in Najaf, Iraq, and in Qum, Iran, together with Nasrallah, until he was recalled to Lebanon by Hassan Nasrallah in 1994.
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In 1995, Hashim Safiyuddin was promoted to the Majlis al-Shura (Consultative Assembly), the highest council in Hizbullah. He was also appointed head of the Jihad Council. The Executive Council, of which he is president, oversees Hizbullah’s political, social, and educational activities.
Al Din is among three major leaders of Hizbullah, the other two are Hassan Nasrallah and Naim Qassem. He is also regarded as second only to Nasrallah.
In 2006, Safiyuddin was reportedly promoted by Iran as a possible successor to Hassan Nasrallah for the post of Secretary-General of Hizbullah.
Safiyyudin is one of six clerics who are members of the shura council of Hizbullah. He is also the head of the executive council of the group (also known as Shura Tanfiziyah), to which he was elected in the general assembly meeting in July 2001. In addition, he is one of nine members of the deciding consultative council (Shura al-Qarar), which is the top body of the group.
In October 2008, Safiyuddin was elected to succeed Nasrallah as secretary general of Hizbullah in the general meeting. His appointment as heir apparent to Nasrallah was supported by Iranians. In 2009, Al Din was again elected to the Shura Council. He was appointed as Hizbullah’s military commander of Southern Lebanon region in November 2010.
In 2017, Safiyuddin was designated a terrorist by the U.S. Department of State. The following year, he was subject to the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and some of Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in addition to nine other senior Hizbullah figures.
In June 2020, his son, Sayyed Reza Hashim Safiyuddin married Zeinab Soleimani, daughter of former Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani.
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