A study has been conducted into the Hezbollah and Iran influences on Bahraini militant groups. This study by Hezbollah expert Philip Smyth looks at the choice of music by “Iran’s proxies” for their propaganda material.
Previously in his “Hezbollah Cavalcade” series Philip Smyth had investigated similarities in logos, rhetoric and published material between Bahraini groups and other Hezbollah affiliates. However, this is probably the first time that musical similarities have been looked at systematically.
The study can be found here.
The study points to certain songs performed by pro-Hezbollah bands in Lebanon, which appear in multiple Bahraini militant videos showing attacks against police and civilian targets.
The study concludes: “It is highly unlikely that this particular musical element could find its way into so many pieces of released footage. This may indicate some Bahraini militant footage being sent abroad (possibly to Iraq) where the footage is re-edited and put back together for a later introduction.”
According to the study, which looked extensively at trends in music usage across a wide range of Hezbollah-affiliated entities; some of the songs used “fit a long standing media strategy” by groups like Hezbollah when “manufacturing narratives and perceptions”; either for themselves; or for other armed groups.
Smyth explains that often, songs produced for one group are “repackaged for newer organizations in other geographic locations. The songs are then altered in a way to make them appeal to the populations and target audience where the new group is located.”
He speculates about the possibility that video editing/production was offered to Bahraini militants by Iran, as a means of influencing these groups to take a “more bellicose strategy”.