Zahedi Martyred with Gaza in Mind, Sayyed Nasrallah Says

By Al Mayadeen English

8 Apr 2024 19:22

Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah laments the martyrdom of Iranian military commander Mohammad Reza Zaheri as he underlines "Israel's" paramount military losses.

The Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus set two precedents - the first was that it targeted sovereign Iranian territory, and the second was the rank of the assassinated, Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Monday.

"[Israel] targeted Iranian territory, which means it is a new violation against Iran, and it set another precedent, the level of the assassination, as [Brigadier General Mohammad Reza] Zahedi was the head of Iranian advisers in Lebanon and Syria," he said.

Sayyed Nasrallah underlined that the Israeli attack was the starkest in Syria in years, noting that this was resorted to "due to the failure of the universal war on Syria, of which Israel was a quintessential part."

The Israeli occupation "miscalculated when it attacked the consulate taking into consideration what Iran announced and the anticipated response from Tehran," he said. "The United States, Israel, and the rest of the world have acknowledged that the Iranian response is coming, and that will hold true."

The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps has been present in Syria and Lebanon since 1982, coming right after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon to combat the Israeli aggressors despite the international war that Iran was facing at the time, the Resistance leader stressed.

The IRGC cadres were present in Lebanon "as training advisors, not for combat as they are today in Syria," Sayyed Nasrallah noted, going on to underline that it was normal for IRGC military advisors to be in the Iranian consulate in Damascus, underlining that it was part of the international standards.

The Israeli occupation, he said, "is blatantly declaring war and alleges that it was attacking Iranian forces when in reality, they were targeting Iranian advisors who have greatly served the Resistance in the region."

The Israeli occupation's attacks stem from their understanding that the Iranian advisors are essential to the Resistance in the region, he said. "The attack on the Iranian advisors in Syria is part of the most legitimate and clearest battle there is, which is the battle against the US occupation."

'Israel' struggling through crises

Sayyed Nasrallah underlined that US President Joe Biden's pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take action against the Israeli military came after the killing of aid workers in Gaza.

"Biden claimed that his pressure on Netanyahu came because of the killing of aid workers, where he demanded that he take action," the Hezbollah chief said.

Nasrallah also pointed to the fact that Israeli occupation forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy dismissed the head of the Nahal Brigade's staff and reprimanded the commander of the Southern Command and a commander in Nahal, stressing that this is "a big deal in military tradition."

Nasrallah added that among the objections that Netanyahu is facing within the occupation is his inability to secure ammunition or wage war, neither in Gaza nor in Lebanon, without the United States.

In the same context, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah stressed that "what happened condemns Washington, because it took action only for aid workers, while it did nothing to exert pressure after the martyrdom of more than 30,000 Palestinians."

Nasrallah stressed that the Israeli brigades that withdrew from Khan Younis "withdrew in humilitation under fire," noting that the occupation suffered a defeat in Khan Younis just hours after its Security Minister, Yoav Galant, spoke from the Gaza envelope about Hamas' defeat.

He also pointed out that the Israeli occupation was fighting the longest war in the region, and it admits that, after 6 months of war, it has not returned more than half of the captives nor has it managed to enter Rafah. Meanwhile, it is also announcing the deaths of new officers and soldiers daily while it failed to even stop the barrages of rockets launched by the Resistance at the Israeli settlements as sirens are still sounding in the settlements of the Gaza envelope, Sayyed Nasrallah added.

Sayyed Nasrallah added that what the Israelis themselves say speaks of the occupation's defeat, describing Netanyahu as "out of touch with reality," saying on Sunday that the Israeli occupation had achieved victory while the whole world says otherwise.

He also noted that he sees that Netanyahu "will try to obstruct the negotiations from under the table. After all, the ceasefire will mean his end", as well as that of Police Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and the Likud Party that he leads because they will all be probed.

Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that one of the most important conditions for Hamas, on behalf of the Palestinian resistance factions and the Axis of Resistance, is "the withdrawal [of the IOF] from the Gaza Strip and opening the north to the south," expecting that the occupation succumbs and leaves Gaza before that demand becomes binding.

Domestic deliberations

The Secretary-General of Hezbollah also addressed the downing of the Hermes 900 drone by the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, which is dubbed as the pride of the Israeli military industry, stressing that "its military and commercial value has been destroyed."

The resistance "does not want to show the type of missile that shot down the drone," he said, explaining that "the importance of the operation lies in shooting down the Hermes drone at the front lines, and it shows the air defense capabilities of the resistance."

"The enemy considered the downing of the drone as crossing the red lines, and we say to him, who said that we do not cross the red lines?" he boldly underlined.

Criticizing dissent to Hezbollah's actions on the southern Lebanese front, which usually manifests in the form of accusing the Resistance of "taking it upon itself to decide whether the country is at war or peace", he wondered, asking "those who are chasing us with the decision of war and peace" days ahead of the anniversary of the Lebanese Civil War: "Who waged the war then? Was it a decision taken by the state or did you take it?"

Martyr Zahedi

Speaking about the commander of the Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria, martyr Mohammad Reza Zahedi, Sayyed Nasrallah said that he was "like other young people, one of the pillars of the Islamic Revolution in Iran", stressing that these young people "took on great responsibilities early on, and they are leaders who emerged from the battlefield with combat experience."

The Secretary-General of Hezbollah explained that the martyr's relationship with Lebanon began in 1988, when the martyr Qassem Soleimani took over the Quds Force, and chose Zahedi at the time as the head of the IRGC in the region.

Martyr Zahedi accompanied the Islamic resistance in Lebanon during the "peak period" before 2000, where he spent four years at the time following up on the preparations and equipment for the confrontation with the occupation after the liberation, as Sayyed Nasrallah continued.

Nasrallah added that martyr Zahedi returned to Lebanon in 2008 after the martyrdom of Imad Mughniyeh, explaining that "there was a consensus on his return to the region at the time to stay with us for six years until 2014".

In 2020, martyr Zahedi returned to Lebanon, where he remained until his martyrdom, to have "spent 14 years of his life among us", with the aim of strengthening the resistance to be at the required level of authority.

In addition, Sayyed Nasrallah underlined that the martyr "insisted on going to southern Lebanon, in order to be with the resistance fighters", stressing that his heart, eye, and mind were on Gaza from the first day of the al-Aqsa Storm, until his martyrdom".

"Our martyred leaders are looking for victory, as it is a project of the Islamic World, while they hope for martyrdom as a personal project", stressing that this battle "is not only to liberate the holy sites but to liberate the Islamic World from the plots of occupation, looting, and plunder".