BEIRUT (Dispatches) – Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has hailed the mass participation of Iranians in nationwide rallies in celebration of the 44th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, say the epic turnout gave a proper response to false speculation that the time was up for the Islamic establishment.
Nasrallah made the remarks during a televised speech on Thursday evening at a ceremony in this Lebanese capital to commemorate Hezbollah’s martyred military commanders.
“Western media outlets took no notice of the millions-strong marches across Iran on the anniversary of the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and instead focused on gatherings and riots that had drawn a small number of people and sought to instigate them,” Nasrallah said.
“All those who bet on the downfall of Iran’s Islamic establishment, especially the Zionist regime, are mistaken in their calculations and must be reminded that their wishful dream will never come true,” he said.
“The latest demonstrations across Iran marking the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution gave a strong and proper response to enemies and those who spuriously alleged that the Islamic establishment’s days are numbered.”
Nasrallah said the United States has been developing a series of plots since 2019 in order to bring Lebanon back under its control and dominance, but to no avail.
He said the liberation of the occupied Lebanese territories and the historic deal to end a long-running maritime border dispute with the occupying regime of Israel in the gas-rich Mediterranean Sea were among the outstanding achievements against the occupying Tel Aviv regime.
Nasrallah also paid tribute to the martyred Hezbollah commanders and fighters, stating that they remained steadfastly loyal to the Lebanese resistance movement despite all difficulties and hardships that they facd.
The Hezbollah chief went on cite a 2022 speech by former U.S. president Barack Obama, in which
he talked about controlling the public opinion of a country through misleading that nation, warning that the current Joe Biden administration is following the suit.
Obama clarified in his speech that Washington would employ various tools in order to topple a certain government. It would relentlessly seek to drive the nation to despair and erode its confidence in the ruling government, Nasrallah said.
He touched on Lebanon’s economic woes, saying the dramatic surge in the dollar exchange rate and prices must be addressed.
“People’s demands are perfectly legitimate. We should not accept any procrastination on the part of energy companies regarding launch of oil and gas exploration activities in the Mediterranean Sea off Lebanon’s coast.”
He said, “The U.S. administration has been banking on rampant corruption ... of previous governments in Lebanon to advance its plots. We must set up initiatives and cooperate with each other in order to thwart schemes aimed at plunging Lebanon into chaos, and tampering with public opinion.”
Nasrallah also urged various Lebanese political factions to put aside their differences and reach a consensus on the election of a new head of state to succeed former President Michel Aoun, whose term ended on October 31 last year.
“No one can impose a president on Lebanon and relevant efforts should be domestic. The U.S. embassy in Beirut and some NGOs were seeking to install their favorable candidates as the new president. However, their project failed,” he said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Nasrallah pointed to last week’s devastating earthquake that rocked southern Turkey and northwestern Syria, censuring the United States over being late in exempting Syria’s quake aid from the Caesar Act sanctions.
“Washington abandoned people in Syria and left them to die due to its oppressive sanctions on Damascus,” Nasrallah said.
He also hailed Lebanon’s official stance and domestic response to the earthquake in Syria. Nasrallah called on the caretaker government in Lebanon to devise a preparatory plan for possible quakes in the Arab country.
The Hezbollah secretary general described the status quo across the Israeli-occupied lands as “critical and unprecedented,” emphasizing that the far-right Zionist cabinet led by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is escalating tensions and pushing things toward a confrontation with Palestinians.
Nasrallah said many Israeli historians have warned that the entity will cease to exist before the 80th anniversary of its 1948 creation.
He recalled that Jews did not rule for more than eighty years throughout their history, noting the present Zionist regime is approaching the eighth decade of the entity’s existence.