1 sept 2019
Still image from a video of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaking to reporters upon arrival in Moscow on September 1, 2019
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is in the Russian capital of Moscow for high-level talks on a wide range of issues, including the recent Israeli assaults on regional countries.
"In addition to bilateral talks on bilateral cooperation, we will hold talks [with Russians] on regional issues" such as the Israeli regime's recent assaults against regional states, Zarif told reporters upon arrival in Moscow on Sunday.
He made the comments amid escalation of tension along the occupied territories' borders with Lebanon, after the Hezbollah resistance movement attacked Israel’s military vehicles earlier in the day, leaving a number of Israeli forces dead or injured.
The Israeli artillery units also struck the southern part of Lebanon shortly after an Israeli drone violated the Lebanese airspace, and dropped incendiary material that sparked a fire in a forest at the border.
In his Sunday comments, Zarif highlighted other subjects to be discussed during his Monday talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
"We are on the verge of the Astana talks in Turkey, and there is a need for coordination. We also need coordination on the Yemen issue."
He said the "serious developments in Afghanistan" will also be on the agenda of his Monday talks.
"Iran's special envoys for Afghanistan, Yemen, and Syria in the delegation visiting Russia, and will hold talks with their counterparts," Zarif added.
The top diplomat said he will also brief the Russian "friends" on the latest developments regarding the Iran nuclear deal, particularly the recent talks held in France.
"We have common stances on the JCPOA with Russia and China and many other global developments," he said.
The talks on the 2015 nuclear deal will come as Iran has given other parties to the deal, especially Europe, until Thursday to fulfill their commitments under the accord; otherwise Iran will take the third step of reducing its obligations.
Tehran rowed back on its nuclear commitments twice in compliance with articles 26 and 36 of the JCPOA.
Tehran says its reciprocal measures will be reversible as soon as Europe finds practical ways to shield the Iranian economy from unilateral US sanctions which were imposed last year when President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal.
The Europeans have already missed a 60 day-deadline set by Tehran, prompting Iran to go for the second phase of cutting its commitments on July 7, which marked the start of a second such deadline for them.
As a first step Iran increased its enriched uranium stockpile to beyond the 300 kilograms set by the JCPOA.
In the second step, Tehran began enriching uranium to purity rates beyond the JCPOA limit of 3.76 percent.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is in the Russian capital of Moscow for high-level talks on a wide range of issues, including the recent Israeli assaults on regional countries.
"In addition to bilateral talks on bilateral cooperation, we will hold talks [with Russians] on regional issues" such as the Israeli regime's recent assaults against regional states, Zarif told reporters upon arrival in Moscow on Sunday.
He made the comments amid escalation of tension along the occupied territories' borders with Lebanon, after the Hezbollah resistance movement attacked Israel’s military vehicles earlier in the day, leaving a number of Israeli forces dead or injured.
The Israeli artillery units also struck the southern part of Lebanon shortly after an Israeli drone violated the Lebanese airspace, and dropped incendiary material that sparked a fire in a forest at the border.
In his Sunday comments, Zarif highlighted other subjects to be discussed during his Monday talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
"We are on the verge of the Astana talks in Turkey, and there is a need for coordination. We also need coordination on the Yemen issue."
He said the "serious developments in Afghanistan" will also be on the agenda of his Monday talks.
"Iran's special envoys for Afghanistan, Yemen, and Syria in the delegation visiting Russia, and will hold talks with their counterparts," Zarif added.
The top diplomat said he will also brief the Russian "friends" on the latest developments regarding the Iran nuclear deal, particularly the recent talks held in France.
"We have common stances on the JCPOA with Russia and China and many other global developments," he said.
The talks on the 2015 nuclear deal will come as Iran has given other parties to the deal, especially Europe, until Thursday to fulfill their commitments under the accord; otherwise Iran will take the third step of reducing its obligations.
Tehran rowed back on its nuclear commitments twice in compliance with articles 26 and 36 of the JCPOA.
Tehran says its reciprocal measures will be reversible as soon as Europe finds practical ways to shield the Iranian economy from unilateral US sanctions which were imposed last year when President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal.
The Europeans have already missed a 60 day-deadline set by Tehran, prompting Iran to go for the second phase of cutting its commitments on July 7, which marked the start of a second such deadline for them.
As a first step Iran increased its enriched uranium stockpile to beyond the 300 kilograms set by the JCPOA.
In the second step, Tehran began enriching uranium to purity rates beyond the JCPOA limit of 3.76 percent.
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This satellite image from a classified US press briefing document purports to show what Trump insisted was a failed space launch by Iran
US President Donald Trump, known for his erratic tweeting, has seemingly given away important details about American’s military satellite after posting an image of what he said was a failed Iranian space rocket launch. The American head of state posted a satellite image on Friday that allegedly showed a launching pad in Iran’s Semnan province littered with debris from what was said to be Iran’s Safir (Ambassador) space launch vehicle. |
“The United States of America was not involved in the catastrophic accident during final launch preparations for the Safir SLV Launch at Semnan Launch Site One in Iran,” Trump said. “I wish Iran best wishes and good luck in determining what happened at Site One.”
Iran reacted refuted the claim by arranging a tour of the Nahid 1 satellite, which is due to be launched into orbit on board the Safir soon.
On Saturday, however, American experts warned that the Republican head of state might have caused a huge security risk by publishing the photo and revealing exciting details about America’s fleet of spy satellites currently orbiting the Earth.
Washington had until now kept notoriously secretive about its spy satellites but Trump’s image, which he seems to have shot with his smartphone from a classified print copy presented at a security briefing, gave experts enough material to shed light on their operations.
Astronomer Marco Langbroek used the angle of the image to identify exactly which satellite took the image. He concluded that, given the possible time of the photo on 9.44 am UTC on August 29, and the angle it was taken, the satellite in question is optical reconnaissance satellite USA 224.
“It is a very good match so there is no doubt in my mind that it is an image taken by USA 224,” Langbroek said in a tweet.
Cees Bassa, another astronomer, said the satellite was some 382 kilometers from the launch pad when it took the photo.
Bassa noted that USA 224 is makes use of a 2.4-meter mirror, which rival the Hubble space telescope and can produce “the sharpest images of the Earth’s surface.”
Meanwhile, Brian Weeden, from the space advocacy organization Secure World Foundation, was able to work out the exact resolution of the image.
He noted that while private satellites are only allowed by law to release images with a resolution of up to 25 centimeters, the photo shows that USA 224 has a resolution of at least 10 centimeters, if not better.
“This will have global repercussions,” Joshua Pollack, a nuclear proliferation expert, told CNBC. “The utter carelessness of it all. So reckless.”
Trump remained defiant against the criticism, saying he had an “absolute right” to release the photo.
Iran reacted refuted the claim by arranging a tour of the Nahid 1 satellite, which is due to be launched into orbit on board the Safir soon.
On Saturday, however, American experts warned that the Republican head of state might have caused a huge security risk by publishing the photo and revealing exciting details about America’s fleet of spy satellites currently orbiting the Earth.
Washington had until now kept notoriously secretive about its spy satellites but Trump’s image, which he seems to have shot with his smartphone from a classified print copy presented at a security briefing, gave experts enough material to shed light on their operations.
Astronomer Marco Langbroek used the angle of the image to identify exactly which satellite took the image. He concluded that, given the possible time of the photo on 9.44 am UTC on August 29, and the angle it was taken, the satellite in question is optical reconnaissance satellite USA 224.
“It is a very good match so there is no doubt in my mind that it is an image taken by USA 224,” Langbroek said in a tweet.
Cees Bassa, another astronomer, said the satellite was some 382 kilometers from the launch pad when it took the photo.
Bassa noted that USA 224 is makes use of a 2.4-meter mirror, which rival the Hubble space telescope and can produce “the sharpest images of the Earth’s surface.”
Meanwhile, Brian Weeden, from the space advocacy organization Secure World Foundation, was able to work out the exact resolution of the image.
He noted that while private satellites are only allowed by law to release images with a resolution of up to 25 centimeters, the photo shows that USA 224 has a resolution of at least 10 centimeters, if not better.
“This will have global repercussions,” Joshua Pollack, a nuclear proliferation expert, told CNBC. “The utter carelessness of it all. So reckless.”
Trump remained defiant against the criticism, saying he had an “absolute right” to release the photo.
29 aug 2019
Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed
Iraq has lashed out at Bahrain for backing recent Israeli attacks on Arab countries, defending sacrifices made by a pro-government military force to counter terrorists.
In a statement released on Thursday, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said it “rejects and condemns” Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifah’s Tweet about the Zionist enemy’s targeting of Arab territories and Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) or Hashd al-Sha’abi, an effective force in the Baghdad government’s anti-Daesh fight.
It also stressed that the PMU has stood by Iraqi armed forces “to defend our holy land and made great sacrifices to liberate the cities of Iraq, and to defeat Daesh terrorist gangs.”
The Israeli regime is widely known to be behind a wave of air raids on positions of Iraq’s Hashd al-Sha’abi in recent weeks. Reports say those air raids had the support of the Saudi regime and were launched from the areas controlled by US-backed Kurdish militants in the northern parts of neighboring Syria.
In the latest such attack on the weekend, Israeli drones struck a PMU convoy near the Iraqi town of al-Qa’im close to the Syrian border, killing a commander and severely wounding a fighter.
This came a day after Israel carried out strikes near the Syrian capital, Damascus, claiming that the air raids were “able to thwart an Iranian attempt ... to conduct an attack on Israeli targets ... using killer drones.”
Syria, however, said that its air defenses had managed to detect hostile targets approaching from the occupied Golan Heights towards Damascus and destroyed most of the Israeli rockets before they could reach their destinations.
Just hours later in early Sunday, two explosives-laden Israeli drones violated Lebanese airspace on a bombing mission and crashed in the stronghold the Hezbollah resistance movement in the south of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. One of the drones blew up near the ground, causing some damage to Hezbollah’s media office.
The top Bahraini diplomat took to Twitter on Monday to express his support for the Israeli attacks, labeling them an act of “self-defense.”
“Iran is the one who has declared a war on us, with its [Islamic] Revolution Guards Corps, its Lebanese party, its Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, its Houthi arm in Yemen and others,” Khalifah claimed. “So one who strikes and destroys the piles of their ammunition is not to blame. That is self-defense.”
The controversial comments were the latest public show of support for Tel Aviv from Manama, which has been trying to normalize ties with the oppressive regime, in what has been viewed by Palestine and its supporters as a betrayal of the Palestinian cause against Israel’s occupation.
Back in June, Khalifah took the lid off Bahrain’s longtime secret dealings with Israel by openly saying that Manama wants “peace” and “better” relations with the occupying entity.
Iran has been providing military advisory assistance to Syria, strengthening the hand of its national army on the battlefield against the terrorists, who have the support of the US, Israel and their allies, including Persian Gulf Arab regimes.
The Syrian military has also the support of Russia and Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement in its counter-terrorism operations.
Tehran offered similar assistance to Iraq and set the stage for the neighboring nation to win its three-year-long campaign against Daesh, the world’s most notorious terror outfit, in late 2017.
Bahrain — a vassal state of Saudi Arabia — is party to a Riyadh-led coalition waging a bloody military campaign against Yemen with the aim of reinstalling a Saudi-friendly puppet regime.
Manama and its allies claim Iran provides arms to the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which both runs Yemen and defends its nation, a claim Tehran has repeatedly rejected.
Iraq has lashed out at Bahrain for backing recent Israeli attacks on Arab countries, defending sacrifices made by a pro-government military force to counter terrorists.
In a statement released on Thursday, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said it “rejects and condemns” Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifah’s Tweet about the Zionist enemy’s targeting of Arab territories and Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) or Hashd al-Sha’abi, an effective force in the Baghdad government’s anti-Daesh fight.
It also stressed that the PMU has stood by Iraqi armed forces “to defend our holy land and made great sacrifices to liberate the cities of Iraq, and to defeat Daesh terrorist gangs.”
The Israeli regime is widely known to be behind a wave of air raids on positions of Iraq’s Hashd al-Sha’abi in recent weeks. Reports say those air raids had the support of the Saudi regime and were launched from the areas controlled by US-backed Kurdish militants in the northern parts of neighboring Syria.
In the latest such attack on the weekend, Israeli drones struck a PMU convoy near the Iraqi town of al-Qa’im close to the Syrian border, killing a commander and severely wounding a fighter.
This came a day after Israel carried out strikes near the Syrian capital, Damascus, claiming that the air raids were “able to thwart an Iranian attempt ... to conduct an attack on Israeli targets ... using killer drones.”
Syria, however, said that its air defenses had managed to detect hostile targets approaching from the occupied Golan Heights towards Damascus and destroyed most of the Israeli rockets before they could reach their destinations.
Just hours later in early Sunday, two explosives-laden Israeli drones violated Lebanese airspace on a bombing mission and crashed in the stronghold the Hezbollah resistance movement in the south of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. One of the drones blew up near the ground, causing some damage to Hezbollah’s media office.
The top Bahraini diplomat took to Twitter on Monday to express his support for the Israeli attacks, labeling them an act of “self-defense.”
“Iran is the one who has declared a war on us, with its [Islamic] Revolution Guards Corps, its Lebanese party, its Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, its Houthi arm in Yemen and others,” Khalifah claimed. “So one who strikes and destroys the piles of their ammunition is not to blame. That is self-defense.”
The controversial comments were the latest public show of support for Tel Aviv from Manama, which has been trying to normalize ties with the oppressive regime, in what has been viewed by Palestine and its supporters as a betrayal of the Palestinian cause against Israel’s occupation.
Back in June, Khalifah took the lid off Bahrain’s longtime secret dealings with Israel by openly saying that Manama wants “peace” and “better” relations with the occupying entity.
Iran has been providing military advisory assistance to Syria, strengthening the hand of its national army on the battlefield against the terrorists, who have the support of the US, Israel and their allies, including Persian Gulf Arab regimes.
The Syrian military has also the support of Russia and Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement in its counter-terrorism operations.
Tehran offered similar assistance to Iraq and set the stage for the neighboring nation to win its three-year-long campaign against Daesh, the world’s most notorious terror outfit, in late 2017.
Bahrain — a vassal state of Saudi Arabia — is party to a Riyadh-led coalition waging a bloody military campaign against Yemen with the aim of reinstalling a Saudi-friendly puppet regime.
Manama and its allies claim Iran provides arms to the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which both runs Yemen and defends its nation, a claim Tehran has repeatedly rejected.
26 aug 2019
A damaged car of the Popular Mobilization Units is seen after a strike by an unmanned aircraft close to the Syrian border in Anbar, Iraq, on August 25, 2019
The spokesman for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's administration has slammed Israel’s recent attacks against targets in a number of regional countries, saying Tel Aviv will pay “a high price” for its acts of aggression against sovereignty of those countries.
Speaking to reporters during his weekly briefing on Monday, Ali Rabiei said, “During the preceding month, the Zionist regime (Israel) became so outrageous as to take pride in its (regime’s) acts of aggression, though in an untrue and exaggerated manner.”
“Repeated acts of aggression against Iraq are black stains on track records of this regime and we condemn any aggression against sovereignty of regional countries. Israel will pay a high price for its actions,” he said.
He noted that the secretary general of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement, during his speech on Sunday, took a very important stance on the Israeli regime's recent acts of aggression.
"These remarks send a clear and severe message to the Zionist regime that its brazen acts of aggression will not go unanswered," Rabiei pointed out.
In his televised speech broadcast live from the southern Lebanese capital city of Beirut, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said fighters from the movement will counter any further violation of the Lebanese airspace by Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles, warning the Tel Aviv regime to immediately cease such breaches.
“Hezbollah will endeavor to down all Israeli drones, which may violate Lebanon’s airspace,” he added.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Rabiei emphasized that the Tel Aviv regime should not take advantage of regional nations’ patience and said, "[Israel's] repeated acts of aggression against Iraq and Syria have been added to its black record of aggression against the Palestinian people."
Stressing that regional nations' patience is running out, the Iranian government spokesman said that the Islamic Republic would support the Iraqi, Syrian and Lebanese peoples' right to self-defense.
Iraq’s pro-government Popular Mobilization Units, commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi, said on Monday that Israel was behind a recent deadly drone attack that killed two people near the Syrian border.
Two unmanned aircraft carried out air raids on an area about 15 km (9 miles) away from Iraq's border with Syria on Sunday.
"As part of the string of Zionist attacks on Iraq, the evil Israeli crows have returned to target the Hashd al-Sha’abi, this time with two drones inside Iraqi territory," the group said in a statement.
The air raids are the latest in a series of attacks that have targeted positions of Hashd al-Sha’abi forces across Iraq over the past months.
The attacks began on July 19 when a drone dropped explosives onto a PMU base near the town of Amerli, in Salahuddin Province, killing at least one resistance fighter and injuring four others.
The fourth attack came last week, when a PMU ammunition depot exploded near the capital Baghdad. Hashd al-Sha'abi commanders blamed Israel and blasted Americans for allowing the attacks despite having full control over the Iraqi airspace.
The spokesman for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's administration has slammed Israel’s recent attacks against targets in a number of regional countries, saying Tel Aviv will pay “a high price” for its acts of aggression against sovereignty of those countries.
Speaking to reporters during his weekly briefing on Monday, Ali Rabiei said, “During the preceding month, the Zionist regime (Israel) became so outrageous as to take pride in its (regime’s) acts of aggression, though in an untrue and exaggerated manner.”
“Repeated acts of aggression against Iraq are black stains on track records of this regime and we condemn any aggression against sovereignty of regional countries. Israel will pay a high price for its actions,” he said.
He noted that the secretary general of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement, during his speech on Sunday, took a very important stance on the Israeli regime's recent acts of aggression.
"These remarks send a clear and severe message to the Zionist regime that its brazen acts of aggression will not go unanswered," Rabiei pointed out.
In his televised speech broadcast live from the southern Lebanese capital city of Beirut, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said fighters from the movement will counter any further violation of the Lebanese airspace by Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles, warning the Tel Aviv regime to immediately cease such breaches.
“Hezbollah will endeavor to down all Israeli drones, which may violate Lebanon’s airspace,” he added.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Rabiei emphasized that the Tel Aviv regime should not take advantage of regional nations’ patience and said, "[Israel's] repeated acts of aggression against Iraq and Syria have been added to its black record of aggression against the Palestinian people."
Stressing that regional nations' patience is running out, the Iranian government spokesman said that the Islamic Republic would support the Iraqi, Syrian and Lebanese peoples' right to self-defense.
Iraq’s pro-government Popular Mobilization Units, commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi, said on Monday that Israel was behind a recent deadly drone attack that killed two people near the Syrian border.
Two unmanned aircraft carried out air raids on an area about 15 km (9 miles) away from Iraq's border with Syria on Sunday.
"As part of the string of Zionist attacks on Iraq, the evil Israeli crows have returned to target the Hashd al-Sha’abi, this time with two drones inside Iraqi territory," the group said in a statement.
The air raids are the latest in a series of attacks that have targeted positions of Hashd al-Sha’abi forces across Iraq over the past months.
The attacks began on July 19 when a drone dropped explosives onto a PMU base near the town of Amerli, in Salahuddin Province, killing at least one resistance fighter and injuring four others.
The fourth attack came last week, when a PMU ammunition depot exploded near the capital Baghdad. Hashd al-Sha'abi commanders blamed Israel and blasted Americans for allowing the attacks despite having full control over the Iraqi airspace.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun says Israel’s recent drone strikes in Lebanon amounts to “a declaration of war” against the Arab country, vowing that Lebanon will defend its sovereignty against the Israeli aggression.
“What happened was similar to a declaration of war, which allows us to resort to our right to defending our sovereignty,” Aoun's office quoted him as saying during a meeting with the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Yan Kubish on Monday.
The Lebanese president’s remarks came a day after two drones crashed in Beirut's southern suburbs.
According to the Lebanese Resistance Movement, Hezbollah, the first drone had fallen on a building housing Hezbollah’s media office in Dahieh suburb.
The second drone, which appeared to have been sent by Israel to search for the first one, had crashed in an empty plot nearby after being detonated in the air, it added.
Following the drone raids, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary general, vowed in a televised speech that fighters of the movement would counter any further violation of the Lebanese airspace by Israeli drones, warning the Tel Aviv regime to immediately halt such breaches.
Both President Aoun and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri strongly denounced the Israeli aggression and called it a “threat to regional stability.”
Late on Sunday, three Israeli drone attacks hit a central region of Bekaa province in eastern Lebanon near the border with Syria, allegedly targeting the positions of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The group, however, said in a statement that the attack had failed to target its posts.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Aoun told Kubish that the strikes in the Dahieh suburbs and in the Bekaa had violated UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended a July 2006 war between the Israeli regime and Hezbollah.
However, Aoun stressed that the Lebanese “are a people seeking peace not war, and we don't accept anyone threatening us in any war.”
Separately on Monday, Hariri said his government wanted to avoid escalation with the Israeli regime, urging the international community to speak out against Israel's “blatant violation” of his country’s sovereignty.
“The Lebanese government sees it best to avoid any sliding of the situation towards a dangerous escalation but this requires the international community affirming its rejection of this blatant violation,” he said, addressing the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
Israel has been cautious over the past years in its military encounters with Hezbollah, a group which seeks a total eviction of the occupying regime from the occupied Palestinian territories.
Hezbollah has previously accused Israel of supporting terrorist groups fighting against the Syrian government.
The Lebanese group has provided evidences suggesting that the regime in occupied Palestinian territories have transferred weapons to strongholds of terrorists in Syria.
“What happened was similar to a declaration of war, which allows us to resort to our right to defending our sovereignty,” Aoun's office quoted him as saying during a meeting with the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Yan Kubish on Monday.
The Lebanese president’s remarks came a day after two drones crashed in Beirut's southern suburbs.
According to the Lebanese Resistance Movement, Hezbollah, the first drone had fallen on a building housing Hezbollah’s media office in Dahieh suburb.
The second drone, which appeared to have been sent by Israel to search for the first one, had crashed in an empty plot nearby after being detonated in the air, it added.
Following the drone raids, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary general, vowed in a televised speech that fighters of the movement would counter any further violation of the Lebanese airspace by Israeli drones, warning the Tel Aviv regime to immediately halt such breaches.
Both President Aoun and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri strongly denounced the Israeli aggression and called it a “threat to regional stability.”
Late on Sunday, three Israeli drone attacks hit a central region of Bekaa province in eastern Lebanon near the border with Syria, allegedly targeting the positions of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The group, however, said in a statement that the attack had failed to target its posts.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Aoun told Kubish that the strikes in the Dahieh suburbs and in the Bekaa had violated UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended a July 2006 war between the Israeli regime and Hezbollah.
However, Aoun stressed that the Lebanese “are a people seeking peace not war, and we don't accept anyone threatening us in any war.”
Separately on Monday, Hariri said his government wanted to avoid escalation with the Israeli regime, urging the international community to speak out against Israel's “blatant violation” of his country’s sovereignty.
“The Lebanese government sees it best to avoid any sliding of the situation towards a dangerous escalation but this requires the international community affirming its rejection of this blatant violation,” he said, addressing the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
Israel has been cautious over the past years in its military encounters with Hezbollah, a group which seeks a total eviction of the occupying regime from the occupied Palestinian territories.
Hezbollah has previously accused Israel of supporting terrorist groups fighting against the Syrian government.
The Lebanese group has provided evidences suggesting that the regime in occupied Palestinian territories have transferred weapons to strongholds of terrorists in Syria.
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The secretary general of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement says fighters from the movement will counter any further violation of the Lebanese airspace by Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles, warning the Tel Aviv regime to immediately cease such breaches.
“Hezbollah will endeavor to down all Israeli drones, which may violate Lebanon’s airspace,” Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah stated in a televised speech broadcast live from the southern Lebanese capital city of Beirut on Sunday evening. Nasrallah made the comments a day after two Israeli drones crashed in a southern neighborhood of Beirut. Hezbollah said the first drone had fallen on a building housing Hezbollah’s media office in Beirut’s Dahieh suburb. The second drone, which appeared to have been sent by Israel to search for the first one, had crashed in an empty plot nearby after being detonated in the air, it added. Nasrallah said the Israeli drone incursion into Lebanon amounted to an open attack on the Arab country’s sovereignty. “What happened last night was a suicide drone attack on Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahieh. This was the first Israeli attack on Lebanon since the (summer) 2006 war. |
The first drone was a surveillance aircraft designed to collect and transfer data to the second one,” Nasrallah said, stressing that the drone strike was meant to inflict heavy causalities on the local population.
“Hezbollah will do everything possible to prevent the repetition of such attacks. If we do not respond to the Zionist attack on Dahieh, Israel will follow suit and target us just as it has hit the positions of Hashd al-Sha’abi (Popular Mobilization Units) forces in Iraq. Hezbollah will by no means allow the Israeli aggression pattern to be repeated in Lebanon,” the Hezbollah chief pointed out.
“The era of the Israeli military’s undeterred attacks on Lebanon has come to an end. Hezbollah will tolerate no more Israeli drones penetrating Lebanese airspace,” Nasrallah said.
‘No Iranian site hit in Syria’
He went on to say that Israeli missiles targeted one of Hezbollah’s civilian structures in the Damascus outskirts in Syria last night, dismissing Israeli officials’ allegations that the projectiles had hit an Iranian site there.
Nasrallah noted that two Lebanese resistance fighters were killed in the missile strike, stressing that “Hezbollah will respond in kind in case the Israeli military continues to target and kill resistance forces.”
Turning to Syrian army advances in the country’s embattled northwestern province of Idlib, the Hezbollah secretary general said government forces are progressing toward final victory over foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants in the strategic region.
He then lauded the enormous sacrifices made by the Damascus government and Syrian nation in battles against Takfiri militants, underlining that Hezbollah resistance fighters are “fighting shoulder to shoulder” by Syrian army soldiers to purge terrorists from any inch of the Syrian soil.
“Enemies sought to crush the resistance axis when they sponsored militancy in Syria back in 2011. The United States called on the Lebanese government at the time to stay away war on Syria, and prevent Hezbollah’s involvement,” Nasrallah said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Hezbollah chief described corruption as a shameful phenomenon within Lebanon’s political arena, warning that certain people are deliberately trying to paint a bleak picture of Lebanon on social media.
Nasrallah urged the Beirut government to spare no efforts, and to hold to account those who are pushing the smear campaign.
“Hezbollah will do everything possible to prevent the repetition of such attacks. If we do not respond to the Zionist attack on Dahieh, Israel will follow suit and target us just as it has hit the positions of Hashd al-Sha’abi (Popular Mobilization Units) forces in Iraq. Hezbollah will by no means allow the Israeli aggression pattern to be repeated in Lebanon,” the Hezbollah chief pointed out.
“The era of the Israeli military’s undeterred attacks on Lebanon has come to an end. Hezbollah will tolerate no more Israeli drones penetrating Lebanese airspace,” Nasrallah said.
‘No Iranian site hit in Syria’
He went on to say that Israeli missiles targeted one of Hezbollah’s civilian structures in the Damascus outskirts in Syria last night, dismissing Israeli officials’ allegations that the projectiles had hit an Iranian site there.
Nasrallah noted that two Lebanese resistance fighters were killed in the missile strike, stressing that “Hezbollah will respond in kind in case the Israeli military continues to target and kill resistance forces.”
Turning to Syrian army advances in the country’s embattled northwestern province of Idlib, the Hezbollah secretary general said government forces are progressing toward final victory over foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants in the strategic region.
He then lauded the enormous sacrifices made by the Damascus government and Syrian nation in battles against Takfiri militants, underlining that Hezbollah resistance fighters are “fighting shoulder to shoulder” by Syrian army soldiers to purge terrorists from any inch of the Syrian soil.
“Enemies sought to crush the resistance axis when they sponsored militancy in Syria back in 2011. The United States called on the Lebanese government at the time to stay away war on Syria, and prevent Hezbollah’s involvement,” Nasrallah said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Hezbollah chief described corruption as a shameful phenomenon within Lebanon’s political arena, warning that certain people are deliberately trying to paint a bleak picture of Lebanon on social media.
Nasrallah urged the Beirut government to spare no efforts, and to hold to account those who are pushing the smear campaign.
