Circles close to Hezbollah in Beirut have confirmed that for nearly two years the party has expected something against it, such as the recent accusation that it was responsible for the Bulgaria bombing. The intelligence war between this Shiite organization and the West has a long record. Yet ever since Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah gave a public speech in Beirut in June 2011, it has become an uncontrolled battle and a new strike is imminent, according to those in Beirut.

Ever since Hezbollah was established in Lebanon in the early 1980s, and became an active military force in the mid-1990s, the group's primary security and intelligence struggle has been with Israel. Its only intelligence confrontations with Washington were secondary or indirect. Things, however, seem to have changed in the past two years. This has resulted in new, public rounds in the "spy wars" between American security services and the southern suburbs of Beirut — Hezbollah's stronghold. Thus, those close to Hezbollah say that the accusation regarding the group's responsibility in the Bulgaria bombing came in the following context:

On June 24, 2011, just a few days after Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati formed his government in Beirut, Nasrallah surprised his supporters in a televised speech in which he spoke openly for the first time about the fact that U.S. intelligence agents had penetrated his organization. He declared, "Months ago and within the responsible follow-up of the anti-spying apparatus in Hezbollah, it was revealed that there are two separate cases that are in contact with U.S. intelligence officers who work as diplomats in the U.S. Embassy in Beirut." The next morning the embassy rushed to refute the claims, describing them as "empty allegations that we have heard repeatedly." However, it seemed to all that the war between Langley and Beirut's southern suburbs had truly flared up.

The next episode was not long in coming. On Nov. 22 of the same year, the Los Angeles Times published a detailed report regarding what was considered a blow to Hezbollah from CIA agents in Beirut. The U.S. newspaper said: "The CIA was forced to curtail its spying in Lebanon, where U.S. operatives and their agents collect crucial intelligence on Syria, terrorist groups and other targets, after the arrests of several CIA informants in Beirut this year." It also quoted "a U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, given the confidential nature of his statements." He said, "Operations were ended at the Beirut station because of a compromise that led to the detection of about 12 informants working for the CIA."