Soleimani, Muhandes, Mughniyeh prohibited US occupation: Nasrallah

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The US has a project in West Asia that aims to undermine the region through hegemony and controlling the region's natural resources, such as its oil and natural gas, Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Tuesday.

Sayyed Nasrallah's words came during a televised speech he held to commemorate martyrs IRGC Quds Force commander Major General Qassem Soleimani and Popular Mobilization Forces Vice President Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis.

The Resistance leader assured the people that he is in good health in light of Israeli and Gulf media reporting that his life was in danger due to health problems.

"Certain parties try to portray national powers and resistance movements are affiliated with Iran, but the truth is the complete opposite," Sayyed Nasrallah said. "The US project in the region is that of hegemony and the plundering of regional resources, from oil to natural gas."

"Martyr Soleimani and other commanders and martyrs represented the first prototype of the New Project for the Middle East in Lebanon and Palestine," he added, noting that the September 11 attacks gave a push to the US project to invade Afghanistan and Iraq while approaching Iran and Syria.

"Had the Israeli war on Lebanon succeeded, it would have continued on to Syria. But that did not happen, and that's where martyr Soleimani came into play," Sayyed Nasrallah stressed. "Syria and Iran stood unwavering in the face of US pressures [...] and the Iraqi resistance carried out momentous operations against US forces."

"The Iraqi resistance defeated the Americans and forced them to withdraw from Iraq, changing the face of the region," he added. "Those who founded the resistance in Iraq were factions and political movements, and Soleimani offered them training and guidance alongside Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis."

"Were Syria not resilient, had the resistance in Iraq not been unwavering, and if there was no Soleimani or [Imad] Mughniyeh, the United States would have occupied the region."

Assassinations aimed at undermining resistance

The worst thing used by the United States in its second version of the new project for the Middle East was sectarianism and takfirism, Sayyed Nasrallah said, underlining that there was no doubt that Washington thoroughly planned the public assassination of commanders Soleimani and Al-Muhandis.

"The aim of the assassinations was to terrorize the Iraqis, weaken the parties to the resistance axis in Syria, Iran, Lebanon, and Palestine, and eliminate the biggest strategic threat to Israel," Sayyed Nasrallah stressed.

On January 3, 2020, the US carried out a drone strike authorized by former US President Donald Trump targeting a car carrying the commander of the Quds Force of the IRGC General Qassem Soleimani, and his Iraqi trench-mate and the second-in-command of Iraqi PMU (Popular Mobilization Units), Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis.

Martyr Soleimani was on an official visit to Iraq and was transported in a car with Martyr al-Muhandis from Baghdad's International Airport upon his arrival before being assassinated by the US.

Days after his martyrdom, the anti-terror icon’s body was transferred to Iran and was laid to rest in his hometown of Kerman. On Saturday, the head of the special committee in charge of the case, Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, confirmed Iran is in the final stages of releasing an official indictment on the murder of IRGC's Quds Force Commander. 

However, he noted, after Soleimani's martyrdom, the commander became a resistance icon and a source of inspiration, with his funeral being the biggest in history.

Additionally, the "deal of the century" faltered, "and Lebanon drew the rules of engagement, while Syria fixated the rules of diplomacy."

Sayyed Nasrallah touched on the new Israeli occupation government, calling it a "mixture of corrupt and extremist criminals and madmen, noting that "this mixture of madmen in the Israeli cabinet might expedite the end of this temporary entity."

Hezbollah wants president that will not backstab resistance

The Hezbollah chief went on to talk about the political deadlock surrounding the presidential election in Lebanon, saying that that party did not seek a president that would protect it "for it does not need protection. We want a president that will not stab the resistance in the back."

"It is our right to hold on to a president that will not betray the resistance, for any other option would mean a civil war," he further stressed.

"We support the latest meetings and talks in Lebanon, and I recommend not to wait for the intervention of external powers because we are running out of time," Sayyed Nasrallah said. "We are determined to solve differences between Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement."

"I always told Minister Gebran Bassil that if you feel embarrassed about allying with us, then you are not obligated," Sayyed Nasrallah noted. "We will address the dispute with the FPM because the Lebanese are in need of meetings and communication."

On the Iran nuclear deal, Sayyed Nasrallah noted that Iran was only negotiating its nuclear program, "and the Americans are trying to bring regional issues to the table of negotiations [...] and whoever links the presidential deadlock in Lebanon to the Iran nuclear deal is ignorant."

He stressed that Iran did not once in 40 years intervene in internal Lebanese politics, noting that even if the Saudis and Iranians sit at the negotiations table, "the priority for Saudi is Yemen, not Lebanon."

"This axis, with your support and sacrifices, is heading toward victory. And the blood of the two martyrs led to a vital stage that will pave the way toward victory," the leader concluded.