BEIRUT (Dispatches) – Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Monday the Americans are exploiting protests in Lebanon to fulfill their own interests and advance their agenda.
"Americans are taking advantage of the demonstrations for their own interests,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech, adding that the U.S. ignores social realities in Lebanon, including poverty and unemployment.
The demonstrations, he said, have made the Lebanese more united than ever in their fight against corruption, adding, "The ongoing protests in Lebanon prevent any political faction from protecting those involved in corruption crimes."
Nasrallah said there should be no discrimination in the fight against corruption, adding all Lebanese should take part in fight against corruption by cooperating with judiciary.
The Hezbollah leader said the campaign against corruption requires impartial and honest judiciary and mechanisms to restore the stolen money.
"Let the court start trying Hezbollah members, and I pledge to lift the impunity of the party’s ministers and members of the parliament."
Nasrallah said Lebanon’s manufacturing sector is terribly suffering from inefficiency and lack of productivity, adding the United States is creating obstacles for the direct investment and smooth operation of Chinese firms in Lebanon.
U.S. threats to impose sanctions and punitive measures on participants in Syria's reconstruction have deterred Lebanese companies from taking part in the process, he said.
"U.S. sanctions have hampered the growth of Lebanon’s economy. The United States has even blocked economic routes between Lebanon and Iraq. It has not allowed the opening of the border crossing – which connects the town of Bukamal in Syria's northeastern province of Dayr al-Zawr to the city of Husaybah in the Al-Qa'im district of Iraq's western province of Anbar – despite repeated appeals by Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi,” the Hezbollah chief said.
"Americans are doing their best in order to exert unrelenting economic pressure on Lebanon.”
Nasrallah also roundly dismissed latest remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about Iran’s influence in Lebanon as "unfounded and absurd”.
"In the American officials’ eyes, Iran’s influence in Lebanon means support for the resistance movement,” he said.
Pompeo wrote on his Twitter page on November 5 that the people of Iraq and Lebanon have a right to free themselves of Iranian influence.
The Hezbollah secretary general also noted that the possibility of any U.S. war on Iran has reduced by 99.99% and that the Islamic Republic has remained steadfast in the face of U.S. pressures and those of Washington’s allies.
"Iranians have gone through the toughest economic times and remain steadfast against the pressures exerted by the U.S. and its allies," Nasrallah said, adding the recent discovery of a huge oil field in southwestern Iranian province of Khuzestan could be a major boost to the country's economy.
"(U.S. President Donald) Trump is only after oil and money. He is ready to betray its own allies when his interests are at stake,” Nasrallah said, asserting that the recent discovery of oil in Iran will make Trump very sad.
Nasrallah said contacts and consultations are underway among various Lebanese political parties in order to form a new government in the country.