Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon, on Sunday called for attacks against American forces to avenge the death of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, whom he described as a friend to Shiite forces in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen as well as Lebanon.
Nasrallah thanked Soleimani for helping to rebuild Hezbollah’s terrorist forces after its 2006 clash with Israel and recalled Soleimani urging the Lebanese group to improve its missile capabilities as quickly as possible so it could pose a “strategic threat” to Israel.
Nasrallah also mourned the death of Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a designated terrorist and founder of the terrorist group Kataib Hezbollah, who was killed alongside his Iranian boss. Nasrallah said Muhandis “considered himself a soldier of Qasem Soleimani.”
“I believe it is time for the axis of resistance to start working,” Nasrallah said on Sunday, urging Iran’s allies and proxy forces across the region to plan attacks against U.S. forces. He anticipated further retaliation coming in the “days, weeks, and months” ahead.
Nasrallah accused U.S. President Donald Trump of “lying to his people” about the threat to American interests posed by Soleimani, insisting the Iranian terrorist leader was “not planning to blow up American embassies” despite having just laid siege to the one in Baghdad and been repelled by its defenders.
According to Nasrallah, the missile attacks launched by Iran against two Iraqi bases last week was just a “slap” and a “first, strong, and earth-shattering step” toward avenging Soleimani. No one was injured by the Iranian missiles.
“We are speaking about the start of a phase, about a new battle, about a new era in the region,” he vowed.
“The Americans must remove their bases, soldiers, officers and ships from our region. They should leave,” he said, warning that the alternative to “leaving vertically” is “leaving horizontally.”
“The response to the American crime is not a single operation, but rather a long path that must lead to removing America from our region. The days will reveal that after the assassination of Soleimani the world will be different. It is the beginning of a new history in our region,” he said.
Nasrallah was untroubled by Iran shooting down a Ukrainian passenger jet on the night it launched missiles at Iraq, congratulating the regime in Tehran for admitting the shootdown and saluting them for “transparency that is unparalleled in the world.” Of course, he did not mention that Iran lied about the cause of the plane crash for days and was attempting to conceal the evidence when it was called out by multiple intelligence agencies.
Nasrallah was equally blind to the massive protests against the regime sweeping Iran in the wake of the plane shootdown, insisting the size of the funeral procession for Soleimani proved Iranians are unified in their thirst for revenge.
Haaretz noted Hezbollah is having its own problems with Lebanese who are less than thrilled by its determination to serve Iranian interests by fighting in Syria and threatening Israel rather than serving the people of Lebanon.
Lebanese students, in particular, are increasingly vocal in challenging the terrorist group’s presence on campus, while the streets of Lebanon have recently seen massive protests against Hezbollah and Iran’s influence.
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