Sayyed Nasrallah: Soleimani’s Killers to Pay Heavy Price, The World will Be another Place
By Zeinab Essa - Zainab Daher
Hezbollah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah delivered on Sunday a speech in which he tackled the US crime of assassinating Haj Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis.
In a memorial ceremony held by Hezbollah to the two leaders, Sayyed Nasrallah confirmed that “Humility and love for people were the attributes that characterized the martyr leaders Al-Muhandis and Soleimani. There are great similarities in both martyrs. We must praise the sacrifices made by the martyrs, particularly those offered by the martyr General Qassem Soleimani.”
“He didn't represent himself only; he rather represented the Islamic Republic of Iran and its leadership,” Sayyed Nasrallah said, pointing out that “Martyr Hajj Qassem Soleimani used to care for our pains and needs, and provide more than we would demand or expect.”
Recalling that he had first met martyr Soleimani in 1998, the Resistance Leader underscored that “Hajj Qasem Soleimani managed to establish a special and firm relation with Hezbollah’s leaders.”
“Since we knew him, we neither felt the formalities, nor ranks but brotherhood and kindness. In his relationship with the resistance, Hajj Qassem lived our happiness and sorrow, and he had always visited us,” he added.
According to His Eminence, “One of the key factors of the 2000 victory was Hajj Qassem Soleimani. He has long supported the resistance's development after the 2000 victory to cut the way on the “Israeli” dreams in Lebanon.”
Unveiling some of the martyr’s sacrifices, Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that “One of the reasons for the quantitative and qualitative development in the work of the resistance at the end of the 1990s, which led to the victory of the year 2000, was the work of Hajj Qassem Soleimani”
“Hajj Qassem was with us as bombing was taking place all over the period of July war 2006,” he went on to say, noting that “the martyr saved our dignity by providing the needs to shelter people as the war ended, in addition to starting the work to reconstruct their houses.”
In parallel, His Eminence said: “After 2000, the resistance turned into a force that possesses the ability and deterrence to cut off the hand of the “Israeli” enemy from attacking Lebanon.”
In this context, he revealed that “Hajj Qassem accompanied the resistance’s qualitative development and introducing of new missiles.”
“The deterrence power the resistance possesses, and the existential threat it represents to the 'Israeli' entity was the fruit of the blessed Islamic Republic and its faithful messenger Hajj Qassem Soleimani,” Sayyed Nasrallah went on to say.
Back to the July 2006 aggression on Lebanon, Sayyed Nasrallah disclosed that “Hajj Qassem stayed in Beirut during all the days of war and he used to tell me I would die with you or stay with you”
“With all the deterrent power, capabilities, expertise and development that the resistance possesses today, it has become an existential threat to 'Israel',” His Eminence emphasized, noting that Hezbollah “did not expect that a day would come when the enemy would see our Lebanese resistance as an existential threat.”
According to Hezbollah Secretary General, “The resistance forces in the region are friends of Iran that didn't ask them for anything at any time; but the US and its supporters could never believe that Iran helps others without having something in return.”
Sayyed Nasrallah went on to praise all what “Iran, the leadership of Imam Khamenei and Hajj Qassem Soleimani has offered.”
On another level, Sayyed Nasrallah confirmed that “Daesh's [Arabic Acronym for the terrorist ‘ISIS/ISIL’ group] scheme is one of the most dangerous things that happened to Iraq and the region. Daesh has been and is still an American creation.”
On the Lebanese front, he lamented the fact “When evaluating the battle with Daesh and Al-Nusra, some people try to slander the issue. However, had not Daesh been defeated in East Homs, its terrorists would not have been expelled from Lebanon. For a person, a state, or a people to stand with the vulnerable people; this is the model of the Muslim state.”
“Hajj Qassem Soleimani came to help Iraq, and Hajj Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis was a central commander in this confrontation,” he explained, noting that “Hajj Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis worked for the last moment of his life for the Hashd al-Shaabi [Popular Mobilization Forces] to confront Daesh, which if had prevailed in Iraq, then all the regional countries would have been in danger.”
Also regarding the confrontation with Daesh in Iraq, Sayyed Nasrallah highlighted that “Hajj Qassem never asked the resistance for anything for him or for Iran, but he asked for the resistance’s help in Iraq to fight Daesh.”
“All the peoples in the region and their countries should thank the Hashd al-Shaabi, its leaders, Hajj Abu Mahdi, and Hajj Qassem Soleimani because they have defended the entire region,” His Eminence added.
On another level, the Resistance Leader said: “Soleimani had the biggest and greatest funeral in history after that of Imam Khomeini.; and the funeral of Hajj Qassem has terrified Trump and his administration according to some American officials.”
“The funeral of Hajj Qassem Soleimani in Ahvaz was a significant message to cause despair among the Gulf regimes conspiring against the Islamic Republic,” he went on to say, noting that “The funeral has strengthened the Islamic Republic and brought life again to its revolution. We are before a new birth of the Islamic revolution in Iran.”
In addition, His Eminence stated that “The Americans were really desperate because of the scenes of the funeral in Khuzestan and other Iranian cities.”
Regarding the response, Sayyed Nasrallah warned that “The leaderships of the resistance asked me to allow carrying out self-sacrifice operations in retaliation for the crime of Soleimani's assassination.”
“Hajj Qassem's martyrdom has brought back the true image of the US, which is the head of arrogance, corruption and criminality in the world,” he stated, urging for "exposing the US crimes and recalling its crimes in the region. ‘Israel' also committed crimes under US protection; the Takfiri terrorism has been brought to us by the US.”
According to Sayyed Nasrallah, “All suicide attacks and crimes committed by the Takfiri terrorism must be branded ‘Made in USA’.”
“The number one threat to all peoples in the region is the US, and ‘Israel’ is an American barrack,” the Resistance Leader mentioned.
On the same level, Sayyed Nasralalh viewed that “Responding to the Soleimani assassination is a long track that must lead to expelling the US presence in the region; the Ain Al-Assad operation was just a ‘slap.”
“The Ain Al-Assad slap signifies the unprecedented courage of the Iranian leadership ever since WWII,” he added, noting that “the strike means that all US bases in the region are under the Iranian missiles’ fire.”
His Eminence questioned: “Who dares on this planet to stand in the face of America and strike one of its bases with missiles?”
Meanwhile, Sayyed Nasrallah warned that “Iran possesses more powerful missiles than the ones used in the Ain Al-Assad attack. It was also a strong message to the Zionist entity as Netanyahu used to dream of sending its warplanes to Tehran.”
Separately, His Eminence hailed “Iran's transparency in acknowledging that it shot down the Ukrainian plane as unprecedented in the world, yet Trump is trying to take advantage of the issue.”
“The US is threatening the Iraqis with sanctions, and the Iraqi people are concerned with responding,” Sayyed Nasrallah stressed, pointing out that “after the Ain Al-Assad slap, the axis of resistance should start working; the US forces must leave our region, it is a determined decision!”
“Did the faces of Trump and the US officials during his press conference reflect that they emerged victorious?” His Eminence wondered, stressing that “Hajj Qassem Soleimani was not planning to target US embassies; these are Trump’s lies.”
On behalf of the axis of resistance, His Eminence declared: “We’re in front of a new phase, the coming days will prove it. It is the responsibility of the entire nation. We’ve to learn that Washington will try to block Baghdad’s historic stance of demanding US troops’ withdrawal from the region.”
Clearly enough, Sayyed Nasrallah sent the sounding message: “Iran is strong, capable and courageous. The axis of resistance is concerned with starting to work, and the resistance forces are serious in their suggestion. The alternative of the US troops’ vertical withdrawal is that they leave horizontally. It is a matter of time."
“We’re speaking about a new beginning and a new era in the region; and this is the responsibility of the Ummah [nation].The US administration and the killers will pay a heavy price and will discover that they have miscalculated [their deeds]. After Soleimani’s martyrdom, the world will be another place that doesn’t fit those aggressors. You'll discover, with blood, that by killing Hajj Qassem Soleimani you are not safer [than before],” Sayyed Nasrallah concluded.
