US crossed ‘all red lines’ by assassinating Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Nasrallah says

The secretary general of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah says Washington “passed red lines” with its assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and his companions in Iraq last month, emphasizing that the incident changed all regional equations.

News ID: 449047

Date: 14 February 2020 - 13:14

RNA - The secretary general of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah says Washington “passed red lines” with its assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and his companions in Iraq last month, emphasizing that the incident changed all regional equations.

“The Americans must know that they have crossed all red lines and changed regional equations by assassinating Lt. Gen. Soleimani. The event has pitted the axis of resistance and regional nations against the United States,” Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in a televised interview broadcast from the Lebaanese capital city of Beirut on Thursday night.

Nasrallah added that the killing of the top Iranian commander helped the entire Muslim Ummah to know their worst enemy, the Great Satan – an epithet for the United States of America.

He then lauded Iran over firing a salvo of ballistic missiles at US military bases in Iraq in relation for the January 3 assassination of Lt. Gen. Soleimani in an airstrike near Baghdad International Airport.

The Hezbollah chief further noted that the resistance front has scored impressive achievements following the martyrdom of the top Iranian commander.

“The influence of Lt. Gen. Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis – the second-in-command of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), is now felt more than ever among us,” Nasrallah said.

He highlighted that his presence on the field gave him a clear picture of the developments unfolding, stressing that the axis of resistance could improve its defense capabilities thanks to the strenuous efforts made by the late Iranian military commander.

“Lt. Gen. Soleimani helped Hezbollah drive Israeli forces out of southern Lebanon (in the wake of the Israeli military’s 33-day war on the Arab country in the summer of 2006). Iran helped Lebanon defend itself against the Israeli invasion. Hezbollah has been cooperating with the Quds Force since late 1980s,” Nasrallah pointed out.

The Hezbollah secretary general also praised the late Iranian military commander’s personality, saying his political weight was much more significant than his military one.

“Lt. Gen. Soleimani used to attack paramount significance to Lebanon developments, and would analyze them from regional perspectives. He would not focus on trivial issues. He believed the campaign against Daesh in Iraq and Syria was of outstanding importance. His presence on battlegrounds would greatly boost the morale of resistance fighters,” Nasrallah said.

He underscored that US media outlets ran articles about the late Iranian commander weeks before his assassination.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Nasrallah strongly condemned US President Donald Trump's so-called deal of the century on the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying the US statesmen defend the Israeli regime despite the fact that it has usurped Palestinian lands.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran and the axis of resistance will stand against the deal of the century with full force,” he commented.

On January 28, Trump unveiled his so-called deal of the century, negotiated with Israel but without the Palestinians.

Palestinian leaders, who severed all ties with Washington in late 2017 after Trump controversially recognized Jerusalem al-Quds as the capital of the Israeli regime, immediately rejected the plan, with President Mahmoud Abbas saying it “belongs to the dustbin of history.”

Palestinian leaders say the deal is a colonial plan to unilaterally control historic Palestine in its entirety and remove Palestinians from their homeland, adding that it heavily favors Israel and would deny them a viable independent state.

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