Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said on Monday that any attack on the group’s backer Tehran would also be an attack on the group and warned that any new war on Iran would ignite the region.
Last week, President Donald Trump said a US “armada” was heading toward the Gulf and that Washington was watching Iran closely after a bloody crackdown on protesters.
He had appeared to step back from military intervention, but has since insisted it remains an option.
“Faced with aggression that does not distinguish between us… we are targeted by any potential aggression and determined to defend ourselves,” Qassem said in a televised address to supporters at a solidarity rally for Iran.
“A war on Iran this time will ignite the region,” he warned.
“We will choose at that time how to act… but we are not neutral,” he said, adding that “on how we act, these are details that the battle determines, and we will decide according to the interests at stake”.
Iraq’s Hezbollah
His comments come after his counterpart, the Secretary-General of Kata’ib Hezbollah in Iraq, Haj Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi, issued a statement on Sunday evening, calling for preparation for a comprehensive war in support of Iran.
BUT President Trump told Axios in an interview on Monday that the situation with Iran is “in flux” because he sent a “big armada” to the region but thinks Tehran genuinely wants to cut a deal.
Why it matters: Trump came close to ordering a strike on regime targets in Iran earlier this month over the killing of thousands of protesters. Instead he delayed the decision while also moving military assets to the region. White House officials say an attack is still on the table, though the protests have largely been suppressed.
Sources with knowledge of the situation say Trump hasn’t made a final decision. He will likely hold more consultations this week and be presented with additional military options.
IRAN’S supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is reportedly hiding in an underground bunker – out of fear he could be wiped out by US airstrikes.
The 86-year-old bloodthirsty autocrat is said to have fled with his family to a heavily fortified shelter linked by a maze of tunnels under Tehran as an American armada powers toward the Persian Gulf.
AFP/ AXIOS
