BEIRUT: The headof Lebanon's Tehran-backed Hezbollah said Friday that US ally Israel would notbe "neutral" if a war broke out between the United States and Iran.And "Iran is able to bombard Israel with ferocity and force," HassanNasrallah said in an interview broadcast on Hezbollah's Al-Manar television.His remarks came after weeks of increasing tensions between the United Statesand Iran, and as US President Donald Trump steps up his war of words with theIslamic Republic.
"When theAmericans understand that this war could wipe out Israel, they willreconsider," Nasrallah said. "Our collective responsibility in theregion is to work towards preventing an American war on Iran," he said. Hesaid neither Saudi Arabia nor the United Arab Emirates had any interest in aconflict erupting. On Friday, the US House of Representatives voted to restrictTrump's ability to attack Iran, voicing fear that his hawkish policies arepushing toward a needless war.
Hezbollah isconsidered to be a terrorist organization by the United States, and is the onlyfaction not to have disarmed after the Lebanese 1975-1990 civil war. But it isalso a major political player in the small Mediterranean country, taking 13seats in parliament last year and securing three posts in the current cabinet.
Syria presencedowngraded
Nasrallah alsosaid he had decreased the number of his movement's fighters supporting theDamascus regime in neighboring war-torn Syria. "The Syrian army hasgreatly recovered and has found that today it does not need us," he said."We are present in every area that we used to be. We are still there, butwe don't need to be there in large numbers as long as there is no practical need,"he said. The head of the Iran-backed Shiite movement, which has been fightingin Syria since 2013, did not give details on the extent of the reduction.
Backed by Russiaand Iran, the Damascus government has taken back large swathes of territoryfrom rebels and jihadists since 2015, and now controls around 60 percent of thecountry. Nasrallah spoke after Washington announced fresh sanctions Tuesdayagainst Hezbollah, targeting elected officials from the movement for the firsttime. Nasrallah said none of his fighters were currently involved in fightingin Syria's northwestern region of Idlib, where regime and Russian forces haveincreased deadly bombardments on a jihadist-run bastion since late April. But"if there was a need to return, all those who were there would goback" to Syria, he added.
Tel Aviv 'withinrange'
Responding to aquestion about repeated Israeli air strikes on Syria, he said the Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu was "deceiving his people". "He isplaying a game of brinkmanship, because Iran will not leave Syria," hewarned. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in neighboring Syria againstwhat it says are Iranian and Hezbollah military targets. It has vowed to keepIran from entrenching itself militarily there.
Nasrallah'sinterview came to mark the start of his movement's 2006 war with Israel, whichkilled more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis,mostly soldiers. Both countries are still technically at war, and a UNpeacekeeping force has said three tunnels have been found to have dug under theborder from Lebanon into Israel since late last year. The group's leader warnedthat key Israeli installations along the Mediterranean coast including Tel Avivwere "within range of our rockets".- AFP