Iran's Revolutionary Guards Reportedly Evacuating Lebanon, Too

Iran has withdrawn nearly all its estimated 2,000 Islamic revolutionary guards from Lebanon, where they deployed 23 years ago and helped create Hizbullah in the wake of Israel's 1982 invasion, The Washington Post said Wednesday.
U.S. and European officials said only 12 to 50 Revolutionary Guards remain in Lebanon at midweek, following a phased withdrawal that began more than five years ago, the newspaper reported.

It said senior U.S. officials as recently as Friday had estimated the Iranian troop presence in Lebanon at around 800, and that until last month the White House continued to press for the withdrawal from Lebanon of Iranian, as well as Syrian, forces.

While the absence of Iranian forces changes the political and security dynamics in Lebanon, U.S. officials said, it does not eliminate Iran's influence over Lebanon's Shiite population or its financial and military support of Hizbullah, The Washington Post said.

"Iran plays a key role in supporting logistically, politically and materially a whole variety of elements in resisting the peace process," said a senior State Department official. "It's active in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories