Alwaght-Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah says the resistance movement will increase its presence in Syria even after the martyrdom of its commander in the war torn country.
Speaking in a televised speech on Friday marking one week since Hezbollah commander in Syria, Mustafa Badreddine was killed, Nasrallah said the death of the commander would not lead to Hezbollah withdrawing from Syria. “Badreddine’s blood will push us to a bigger presence in Syria... We will remain in Syria and more commanders will go into Syria,” Nasrallah said.
The Hezbollah secretary general praised martyr Badreddine, who was killed in Syria last week, saying he was a front-runner in the fight against Israel.
He said martyr Badreddine, populary known as Zulfikar, was tasked with overseeing Hezbollah’s security and military units in Syria since Takfiri terrorists initiated a war there in 2011.
The Hezbollah leader said Badreddine was initially directing the Syria operation from Lebanon, but later “insisted” on traveling to Syria to oversee in person the sensitive operation.
Nasrallah said Hezbollah was against Badreddine’s presence in Syria as the group knew of the media controversy that would arise of his involvement in the war.
He noted that Badreddine’s presence in Syria helped Hezbollah prevent the fall of the country “into the hands of Takfiris and their American masters and spies in the region.”
He said Hezbollah has not entirely ruled out Israel of having a hand in Badreddine’s killing, but the group has not found any clues during the probe that could directly hint at Israel’s role.
Nasrallah denied speculations circulated by some Arab media that Hezbollah did not assign blame on Israeli regime for Badreddine’s killing because it wanted to escape responsibility for retaliation, saying throughout 34 years of confrontation with Israel, the regime in Tel Aviv has never doubted the genuineness of Hezbollah pledges for carrying out such retaliations.
“Our history is a proof that when we vow to retaliate we honor our pledges,” Nasrallah said, adding that Hezbollah would not stand on ceremony to openly blame Israeli regime for perpetrating a crime when the evidence exists.
Nasrallah said Badreddine’s murder came at the hands of Takfiri groups and was orchestrated by those actively seeking to undermine the resistance front, including the United States.
Hezbollah fighters are combating alongside the Syrian government forces against a range of terrorist groups operating in the war-torn Arab country, including ISIS and the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front.
The 55-year-old Hezbollah commander led Hezbollah’s military wing which is helping the Syrian government drive out foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists from Syria.
Badreddine also directed military operations against the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and was a frequent target of attempts by Tel Aviv, Washington and its allies to assassinate or capture him.
He was the cousin and brother-in-law of Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated by the Israeli regime in 2008 in Damascus.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that "the resistance martyrs are martyrs no matter where they fell, whether in South Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, or Iraq... It does not differ for the battle is one and the enemy is one. We have a large number of martyrs in Syria who held significant positions but were not highlighted in media because they were not controversial figures. There is an ongoing campaign against Hezbollah and its figure, dignity and morale."
He pointed out that "facts on ground reveal the responsibility of Takfiri groups in the killing of martyr Zulfikar, and when facts show the responsibility of the Zionist enemy in any operation we would not hide that... Even in our psychological war, we don’t lie and we don’t make political accusations even against our enemy. Our background states clearly that we do not cower or fear when the Israeli attacks us," warning the Zionists that "if you target any of our mujahedeen we will have a clear and direct response no matter what the consequences were, and it will be outside Shebaa Farms."
The Hezbollah leader indicated that "day after day facts are unveiling and confessions as well as documents are being revealed about the goals behind the battle on Syria and the role of the US and the West in it along with their regional allies and those who took advantage of the groups, funded them, facilitated their arrival to Syria, and armed them."
He added that "everyone is aware that Saudi Arabia is inciting, arming, and bringing fighters into Syria and is leading the operations from its operation room in Jordan."
"Saudi is demanding a new doctrine in Syria. Is there a doctrine in Saudi Arabia in the first place? Saudi is demanding parliamentary election and early presidential election in Syria. Are their elections in Saudi? Saudi is demanding reforms and freedoms in Syria. Does anyone dare to ask for reforms in Saudi?" his eminence explained, noting that "in Saudi they whip 1000 times anyone who dares to write someone on Twitter."
In this context, Sayyed Nasrallah considered that "if President Bashar Al-Assad stated today that he was ready to serve the American project, this entire war will be over."
On another hand, he revealed that "a few weeks ago Sayyed Mustapha and his brethrens were studying the option of cleansing the airport road region... Today, the Syrian Army and its allies were able to push away most of the threats that where on the airport road and Sayyeda Zeinab area."