Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem lashed out at the direct negotiations between the Lebanese government and the Israeli enemy, stressing that Washington’s announcement outlines the basic principles as seen by America and Israel for Lebanon’s submission to the “Greater Israel” project.
In a statement marking the Anniversary of the Passing of Imam Khomeini (May Allah Sanctify His Secret) and commenting on the latest political developments, Sheikh Qassem reviewed the political circumstances influenced by these noble occasions, reaffirming the path of authenticity and truth.
“We thank Iran for assisting us in restoring our land and our rights in confronting the American-“Israeli” aggression despite the major challenges it faces. Iran is also working to consolidate the cessation of aggression and establish a comprehensive ceasefire in Lebanon as part of ending the aggression against Iran.”
Sheikh Qassem stressed that the outcome of the futile, humiliating, and disgraceful direct negotiations imposed upon Lebanon—negotiations rejected entirely by broad segments of the Lebanese people—was the Washington Declaration, which outlines the fundamental principles through which America and “Israel” seek Lebanon’s submission to the project of “Greater Israel”.
“Making the disarmament of the Resistance the primary objective of any agreement means eliminating Lebanon’s strength and creating an existential threat aimed at the destruction of its resisting people. It constitutes a declaration of Lebanon’s ruin, instability, and the sowing of discord among the Lebanese for the benefit of ‘Israel’, allowing ‘Israel’ to achieve through politics what it failed to achieve through war.”
Sheikh Qassem said, “This is impossible for those who seek dignity, honor, and loyalty to the blood of the martyrs, the wounded, the captives, and this great sacrificing people. We are not among those who betray the trust of the martyrs, the land, and the future of generations.”
This declaration is a roadmap for the destruction of a segment of the Lebanese people and the subjugation of the remainder, the statement added.
“To place the security track under the slogan of a supposed ceasefire, interpreted as requiring Hezbollah to stop firing while Resistance fighters abandon the southern battlefield amid ongoing aggression and military pressure, amounts to surrender, defeat, and the fulfillment of the enemy’s objectives. It is like Satan dreaming of entering Paradise.”
We are concerned only with a comprehensive cessation of aggression, a ceasefire, and the withdrawal of ‘Israel’ , Sheikh Qassem affirmed.
“The ceasefire must be comprehensive,” Sheikh Qassem maintained, “There can be no distinction between the South and the rest of Lebanon, nor can there be freedom for the ‘Israeli’ enemy to kill throughout Lebanon. As long as occupation persists, the Resistance will continue.”
“We have given no commitment to anyone not to resist aggression and not to respond to it. As long as the aggression continues, we will confront it with all the strength at our disposal, striking where we decide and where we are able.”
As long as our villages remain unsafe, bombed, destroyed, and our people are being killed, the settlements will not be safe, and they will witness our might and determination, His Eminence affirmed.
“The killers of prophets will not settle on our land. We shall fight the invaders until we expel them from our territory and end their aggression, relying upon Allah’s support and assistance, the courage of the Resistance’s heroic fighters, the embrace of our exceptional people who have offered great sacrifices, and the ever-burning legacy of the blood of the martyrs.”
Sheikh Qassem reiterated confidence in the victory of this Husayni Resistance: “And it is incumbent upon Us to support the believers.”
“The primary objective must be the sovereignty of Lebanon. This can only be achieved through one exclusive solution: ending the “Israeli” aggression against Lebanon in all its forms—by air, land, and sea—along with the withdrawal from Lebanese territory, the deployment of the Lebanese Army south of the Litani River, the liberation of captives, the return of the people to all of their villages, and reconstruction.”
Rejecting any linkage between the existence of the Resistance and the cessation of aggression or the withdrawal of ‘Israel’, Sheikh Qassem affirmed, “No one has the right to interfere in Lebanon’s internal affairs or in the affairs of the Lebanese people as they organize their political, economic, and social lives and make decisions concerning their sovereignty and protection within a national security strategy agreed upon among themselves.”
“We are committed to national unity in confronting aggression, for it is a source of strength for all of us,” Sheikh Qassem affirmed, “We hold the authorities responsible for fulfilling their duties and addressing the internal Lebanese division created by political choices that do not represent the national consensus of Lebanon’s various components, nor the principles of the Constitution and the formula of coexistence.”
The authorities are responsible for initiating measures and dialogue that will unite the Lebanese in confronting the “Israeli” aggression against our country, for it is aggression against all of us.
The priority should be for the people of the country to unite in confronting the aggression first, and then address their internal issues afterward under the framework of the Constitution, the Taif Agreement, the unity of citizens, and coexistence, the statement underlined.
Sheikh Qassem called upon officials to put an end to “what we describe as this farce and humiliation known as direct negotiations, so that you may become stronger through the support of your entire people around the choice of a sovereign state under your administration—a state before which the enemies will inevitably be compelled to submit.”
Hezbollah Secretary General introduced his statement by extending a salutation of reverence and glorification to the late great Imam Khomeini, “reviver of religion and destroyer of the arrogance of the oppressors.”
“Allah Almighty blessed humanity with the rise of Imam Khomeini’s (may his secret be sanctified) movement and his divine revolution in Iran, at a time when America dominated Iran and its resources and colonized many countries of the world and in our region, with tyranny and injustice. Opposing the control of the Soviet Union over another part of the world.”
This revolution emerged from a divine Islamic background, based on the principles of truth, justice, independence, freedom of choice, Islamic unity, respect for the human being, resistance to injustice and occupation, and support for the oppressed of the world, according to the statement.
“It established the system of the Islamic Republic of Iran through a popular referendum, drafted its constitution and laws, and declared that it is ‘neither Eastern nor Western’. Imam Khomeini (may his secret be sanctified), from the religious standpoint and the intellectual and cultural choice, is among the manifestations of the divine path for all humanity, for whoever wishes to choose the path of upright and just human life. Therefore, many popular groups around the world hastened to adopt his leadership and his divine, faith-based vision. This is a legitimate right, especially in comparison with other intellectual, material, or hostile choices.”
“Neither the West nor the East allowed Iran to rest while undertaking its political experiment under the leadership of Imam Khomeini (may his secret be sanctified). The arrogant powers waged an eight-year war against Iran, with Saddam of Iraq as their proxy, and with the mobilization of global and regional forces to topple the system of the Islamic Republic. That system confronted the war with million-strong sacrifices, and the economic and international siege, with the steadfastness of its leadership, its people, its Revolutionary Guard, its army, its commanders, and its elites.”
“Despite all the difficulties and challenges, Iran advanced on all levels, and supported liberation movements and the front of truth, and it did not interfere in the affairs of anyone. The crown jewel of its noble, great stances was its support for the Palestinian people to liberate their land and Jerusalem, and its support for resistance movements against the criminal Israeli occupation, which poses a danger to the entire region, indeed to the whole world.”
“Imam Khomeini is a model of the divinely-guided leader who defends truth and human dignity. In contrast is the model of the tyrants from America, Israel, and others, who have spread wars, chaos, criminality, and genocide of children, women, tillage and offspring across the world, and Gaza is a glaring example before the eyes of the world daily.”
“Whom do we choose for human dignity, honor, and uprightness? We have the pride and unceasing thanks to Allah Almighty that we followed Imam Khomeini in the approach of our lives and our support for uprightness and truth.”
“Why did America, the West, and their agents fight Iran for forty-seven years? Why do they besiege it? Why do they want to prevent it from possessing defensive strength, which is a legitimate right of every state? Why do they want to prevent it from enriching uranium for peaceful purposes, which is permitted according to international law?”
“The answer: They do not accept it as a model of uprightness, justice, and independence, but rather as a subordinate and subjugated entity serving their interests and tyranny.”
America and the Israeli entity waged two wars on Iran, and assassinated the divinely-guided leader Imam Khamenei (may his secret be sanctified) and a number of military, political, and nuclear leaders, and killed civilians and children in their schools and destroyed civilian facilities… unjustly and with clear aggression before the world, to topple the regime and control Iran, the statement added.
“But they did not succeed and will not succeed with this great Khomeini people, raised on the path of Al-Hussein, sacrifice, and redemption, and it will shine, God willing, under the leadership of the righteous successor, the Leader Ayatollah Mujtaba Khamenei (may his shadow endure).”
“The Resistance in Lebanon drew inspiration from the approach and thought of Imam Khomeini (may his secret be sanctified) to liberate the land from the usurping enemy in the region. But we fight for our land and our people from the standpoint of our obedience to our Lord that we should not be slaves to anyone, and that our generations should live their lives independently in their homeland with the people of their country.”
“This Resistance is the planting of Imam Musa al-Sadr (may Allah return him safely) and the path of the Master of the Martyrs of the Nation, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (may Allah be pleased with him). It is allied with political forces and from different groups that believe in resistance and offer sacrifices for its sake.”
Source: Al-Manar English Website