Alwaght- Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanese resistant movement Hezbollah, has said on Friday the US continued military presence in Syria is due to significant oil and gas reserves in the war-torn Arab state.
“Numerous reports have confirmed significant quantities of oil and gas inside Syria, and that is one of the main reasons behind foreign-backed militancy and the presence of US military forces in the country,” said Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addressing his supporters via a televised speech from the capital Beirut during a ceremony to honor Hezbollah martyrs.
Nasrallah further noted that Israeli regime launched the row with Lebanon over Block 9 on the account that the offshore oil and gas field, which lies in Mediterranean waters, is a boon to the regime.
“Our dispute with Israel over energy reserves could not be simply explained as an economic issue. Israel is making use of the energy issue in order to receive the US green light to annex occupied Golan Heights since there are reports about huge quantities of oil there,” he pointed out.
“The US military has occupied the eastern side of the Euphrates River since Syria’s most important oil and gas fields are located there,” Nasrallah highlighted.
The Hezbollah chief said US President Donald Trump is a businessman-turned-political leader and views Iraq as a “big barrel of oil.”
“Offshore oil and gas reserves in the Mediterranean Sea belong to Lebanon, and they are the most important source of income for the country,” Nasrallah said.
Lebanon must be firm in dispute with Israeli regime
Nasrallah added that the Lebanese government needed to take a “firm and strong” position on disputes with the Israeli regime, emphasizing that his resistance movement was ready to act if necessary.
He said Lebanese officials must demand concessions from the US on the border dispute in return for “convincing Hezbollah to hold back from attacking Israel.”
“Resistance is Lebanon’s sole trump card in the oil and gas battle with Israel,” Nasrallah commented.
The Hezbollah chief then warned Lebanese politicians against US administration’s mediating role in the dispute with Israel over offshore gas drilling rights, stressing that Washington is not an honest broker.
“Americans did not come to Lebanon to resolve the issue. They were here to defend Israel's rights and issue threats to Lebanese politicians,” Nasrallah pointed out.
Downing of Israeli F-16 warplane big military achievement by Syria
The secretary general also praised the recent downing of an Israeli F-16 fighter jet by the Syrian air defense systems as a “very big military achievement.”
“Syrian movement has decided to repel Israel’s aerial assaults. The decision to shoot down the plane was taken by the Syrian leadership and President Bashar al-Assad. Those who executed the order were the officers and soldiers from the Syrian Arab Army,” he added.
Commenting on the 39th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Nasrallah said Tehran has never interfered in the domestic affairs of Lebanon.
Iran has defended Arab nations
“Iran is a country that no other country can meddle in its positions and strategies. The Islamic Republic has stood by all Arab nations, and defended their rights,” he said.
Nasrallah also pointed to the anti-regime campaign in Bahrain, saying people have continued their protests in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom despite seven years of heavy-handed crackdown.
Hezbollah martyrs
February 16 marks the martyrdom anniversary of Hezbollah’s Leaders, Sheikh Ragheb Harb, Sayyed Abbas Al-Mousawi and Hajj Imad Mughniyeh, whom were assassinated by the Israeli regime in different years of resistance operations, but in the same week.
Sheikh Ragheb Harb was martyred by Zionist agent on February 16, 1984.
Late Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Abbas al-Mousawi was martyred, along with his wife and son, when an Israeli airstrike attacked his convoy as he was attending the commemoration anniversary of Sheikh Harb on February 16, 1992.
Later on February 12, 2008, Hezbollah’s top military commander Hajj Imad Moghniyeh was martyred in a car bomb attack carried out by Israeli Mossad agents inside Syria.
