BEIRUT (Dispatches) -- The head of the religious council of the Hezbollah resistance movement has praised Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s landmark visit to Syria, saying the visit shattered the myth of U.S. domination in West Asia and proved that U.S. hegemony in the region has collapsed.
Speaking at a ceremony in the northeastern Lebanese city of Baalbek, Sheikh Mohammad Yazbek hailed Raisi’s visit as “historic”, saying it dealt a sharp blow to Washington’s Caesar Act passed in 2019, making Syria subject to some of the most draconian sanctions in history.
The visit exposed the waning power of Washington in the region, and reasserted support for Syria-based resistance groups.
“The meetings, negotiations and cooperation agreements between the two sides perplexed the Zionist enemy, breathed new life into the Axis of Resistance, and created a new opening in the region,” he added.
Sheikh Yazbek also hailed the recent reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia in an agreement brokered by China, but noted that religious scholars and clergymen have frequently censured normalization agreements between some Arab countries and the Israeli apartheid regime as a “dangerous precedent.”
Even though an atmosphere of agreement and concord has prevailed in the region, the top Hezbollah official said, Lebanese authorities have qualms about using such an ambiance of dialogue and understanding to improve the status quo and address existing concerns.
“Everyone in Lebanon desires formation of a strong and just government, which can exercise sovereignty through the country,” he said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Sheikh Yazbek denounced Israeli military incursions into holy places and vicious assaults on Palestinian prisoners, calling for the wholesale condemnation of the regime following the martyrdom in prison of prominent Islamic Jihad leader Khader Adnan after an 87-day hunger strike.
Hebrew-language Israeli media outlets on Friday described Raisi’s visit to Damascus as a major step toward consolidation of an alliance between Iran, Syria, and the Hezbollah resistance group, calling the development “appallingly bad” for the Tel Aviv regime.
Israel’s Channel 12 military correspondent Nir Davori said “efforts are underway to further fortify a front against Israel,” adding that the Iranian president visited Damascus in order “to strengthen the Tehran-Damascus-Hezbollah alliance. This is not good for Israel by any means.”
Davori said there is “great competition” among the regional heavyweights to participate in Syria’s post-war era of reconstruction and development.
Earlier, Israeli media had reported that Raisi’s visit to Syria came at an important time, and conveyed the message that “We (Iran) have won, and our strategic alliance cannot be broken.”
Israel’s Channel 13 television channel also reported that the Iranian president’s visit to Damascus reflects the fact that a new era of Iranian clout in the Middle East has just begun.