The Secretary-General of the Lebanese Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said that when Iran decides to respond militarily or by security to the assassination of the former commander of the Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, it will respond and will not ask for that from its friends or allies, stressing that the region, the Gulf and Israel live in anxiety at this time.
This came in a speech broadcast by Lebanese channels on the first anniversary of the assassination of Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Authority.
"Iran is strong, and when it wants to respond militarily at the appropriate time, it knows how, where and when it will respond," Nasrallah added, stressing that there is great concern today in the region and the Gulf, as well as in Israel, which announced raising its military readiness.
And he added that - what he described - the axis of resistance was able to absorb this big blow, and that the United States assumed that by assassinating Soleimani, Iran and its allies would weaken, "but we know how to turn the threat into an opportunity."
Charges
Nasrallah accused Lebanese media - which he did not name - of misrepresenting a statement by the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Air Force, Ali Hajizadeh, one day ago, about supporting Lebanon with missile capabilities to confront Israel.
He said that Lebanese media had distorted the words of the Iranian official, explaining, "It is true that we in Lebanon are a frontline, and Gaza is also a front, and Haji Zadeh did not say that we are a front front for Iran, but rather a front front to confront the Israeli occupation."
Haji Zadeh said in an interview with Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV, "All the missile capabilities that Gaza and Lebanon possesses have been supported by Iran, and they are the front line of confrontation."
The day after this statement, Lebanese President Michel Aoun said, "There is no partner for the Lebanese in preserving the independence of their homeland, its sovereignty over its borders, its land, and its freedom of decision."
On January 3, 2020, Soleimani and the engineer were killed in a US air strike that targeted a car they were traveling in near Baghdad airport.