Nasrallah Says Aleppo Battle Crucial, Slams 'Hostile Behavior' by Some Banks

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday described the fight for the Syrian province of Aleppo as the “greatest battle” to date in the Syrian war, noting that the outcome would have an impact on “Damascus, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan.”

"It is out duty to increase our presence in Aleppo... because the real, strategic and greatest battle is in Aleppo and the surrounding area," said Nasrallah in a televised speech marking 40 days since the death in Syria of Hizbullah's top military commander Mustafa Badreddine.

Badreddine was killed near Damascus on May 12 by “artillery shelling carried out by takfiri groups,” according to a Hizbullah statement.

Aleppo city -- once Syria's economic hub – has in recent weeks seen an uptick in violence between government forces in the west and rebel groups in the east. Fierce clashes have also been raging in the northern and southern countrysides of Aleppo province.

"We are facing a new wave, or a new phase, of military operations in Syria that will be fought in the north, specifically in the area of Aleppo," Nasrallah said.

“After they failed to reach Damascus from Lebanon, Jordan and the eastern front, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have dispatched thousands of militants in a bid to launch an offensive from the northern front,” he declared.

“The U.S.-Saudi-takfiri scheme is seeking to make an achievement in Syria through Aleppo's front,” Nasrallah added.

He announced that 26 Hizbullah fighters had been killed in the offensive this month, in a rare admission of casualties for the group.

Nasrallah also noted that rebel and jihadist groups fighting his party and the Syrian army have lost “617 militants, including dozens of field commanders,” since the beginning of the fighting in Aleppo on June 1.

“More than 800 militants were wounded while over 80 armored personnel carriers, tanks and vehicles were destroyed,” he added.

"Fighting in defense of Aleppo is in defense of the rest of Syria, of Damascus. It's in defense of Lebanon and Iraq and Jordan," Nasrallah said via videolink.

"This is why it is our duty to be in Aleppo -- and we were, and we will stay in Aleppo," he added.

“The same as we counted on you in the July War (against Israel), we are counting on you in the Aleppo battle,” Nasrallah went on to say, addressing Hizbullah's fighters.

Hizbullah's intervention in the Syrian conflict alongside regime forces has helped Damascus achieve several military victories and allowed the party to clear most of the Lebanese-Syrian border region from rebels and jihadists.

Since 2013, the Lebanese, Iran-backed party has sent thousands of combatants -- between 5,000 and 6,000, according to the expert on Hizbullah Waddah Sharara -- to help the regime fight both rebels and jihadists.

They send 2,000 fighters at a time in rotation, Sharara says. Experts say Hizbullah has lost 1,000 to 2,000 fighters in the conflict, including senior commanders.

Turning to the row over the implementation in Lebanon of the anti-Hizbullah U.S. banking sanctions, Nasrallah said his party has not been affected financially by such measures but stressed that it “will not tolerate the hostile behavior by some banks” against “Hizbullah's environment” and some charitable associations.

“We categorically reject the U.S. sanctions law and claims that Hizbullah is collapsing financially are childish dreams... I have already said that even the strictest implementation of the U.S. law will not affect Hizbullah as an organizational and jihadi structure,” Hizbullah's chief added.

“We do not have business projects or investment institutions that benefit from banks. We openly say that Hizbullah's budget and funds come directly from the Islamic Republic of Iran and as long as Iran has money we will have money,” he declared.

“There are banks in Lebanon that went too far and implemented measures that were not even requested by the Americans themselves. They removed the accounts of charitable associations whose names were not mentioned in the U.S. blacklist. Is this a legal and humanitarian behavior or is it an attack on people and on the charitable associations?” added Nasrallah.

He however noted that his party is “open to dialogue and solutions” with the banking sector while emphasizing that it “will not tolerate any hostile behavior towards our people.”

Nasrallah's remarks come around two weeks after a bomb blast targeted the Beirut headquarters of BLOM Bank, the second largest bank in the country.

Several parties were quick to point the finger at Hizbullah over the bombing due to the fact that the attack coincided with the row with the banking sector.

BLOM bank had been criticized by some pro-Hizbullah politicians for taking a hard-line position after Lebanese banks began abiding by the U.S. law, which sanctions doing business with the Iran-backed Lebanese group. Authorities say dozens of bank accounts related to Hizbullah's organizations have been closed in recent weeks.

Hizbullah has fiercely criticized the law and accused Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh of "yielding" to Washington's demands.

The crisis between Hizbullah and Salameh has however eased in recent days, according to media reports, after the governor ordered the reopening of several closed bank accounts.

Y.R.

Timeline
  • 24 June 2016, 18:52

    Nasrallah: We do not tolerate any hostile behavior towards our people.

  • 24 June 2016, 18:51

    Nasrallah: Those who claim to be keen on the Lebanese people are the ones who destroyed the Lebanese economy and the banking sector. We are open to dialogue and solutions but not on the basis of accepting the U.S. law.

  • 24 June 2016, 18:50

    Nasrallah: There are banks in Lebanon that went too far and implemented measures that were not even requested by the Americans themselves. They removed the accounts of charitable associations whose names were not mentioned in the U.S. blacklist. Is this a legal and humanitarian behavior or is it an attack on people and on the charitable associations?

  • 24 June 2016, 18:46

    Nasrallah: We extend gratitude to the leader imam, Sayyed Khamenei, and to the leadership of the Islamic Republic and its government, president, scholars and people for their generous support which has never stopped.

  • 24 June 2016, 18:41

    Nasrallah: We do not have business projects or investment institutions that benefit from banks. We openly say that Hizbullah's budget and funds come directly from the Islamic Republic of Iran and as long as Iran has money we will have money.

  • 24 June 2016, 18:33

    Nasrallah: We categorically reject the U.S. sanctions law and claims that Hizbullah is collapsing financially are childish dreams. I have already said even the strictest implementation of the U.S. law will not affect Hizbullah as an organizational and jihadi structure.

  • 24 June 2016, 18:30

    Nasrallah to Hizbullah's fighters: The same as we counted on you in the July War, we are counting on you in the Aleppo battle.

  • 24 June 2016, 18:29

    Nasrallah: We will boost our presence in Aleppo and all allies must also do that because the real battle is there.

  • 24 June 2016, 18:27

    Nasrallah: From June 1 to June 24, the militant groups lost 617 fighters, including dozens of field commanders, and more than 800 militants were wounded while over 80 APCs, tanks and vehicles were destroyed.

  • 24 June 2016, 18:25

    Nasrallah: Several achievements have been made in Aleppo and we have broken the siege and persevered in the face of the fierce assaults.

  • 24 June 2016, 18:22

    Nasrallah: Our toll from the Aleppo battle since June 1 is 26 martyrs, one captive and one missing fighter.

  • 24 June 2016, 18:20

    Nasrallah: It is our duty to be in Aleppo and to remain in Aleppo.

  • 24 June 2016, 18:18

    Nasrallah: The U.S.-Saudi-takfiri scheme is seeking to make an achievement in Syria through Aleppo's front.

  • 24 June 2016, 18:11

    Nasrallah: A new war on Syria in being launched from the northern front, especially from Aleppo, and to defend Aleppo is to defend Damascus, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan.

  • 24 June 2016, 18:09

    Nasrallah: After they failed to reach Damascus from Lebanon, Jordan and the eastern front, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have dispatched thousands of militants in a bid to launch an offensive from the northern front.

  • 24 June 2016, 18:03

    Nasrallah: The Syrian regime and its allies fought for four years before Russia's intervention.

  • 24 June 2016, 17:56

    Nasrallah: Hizbullah responded within hours to a call from Iraq's forces on sending cadres and commanders to assist the fight against the IS and the needed number of operatives was ready at dawn.

  • 24 June 2016, 17:49

    Nasrallah: Badreddine played a key role in the release of our captives from Israeli prisons.

  • 24 June 2016, 17:48

    Nasrallah: With Badreddine's martyrdom, we lost a major leader of the resistance and a creative mind who does not bend no matter the storms and calamities.

  • 24 June 2016, 17:37

    Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in a speech marking 40 days since the death of top Hizbullah commander Mustafa Badreddine: I congratulate the families of the martyrs who fell in Aleppo and these martyrs are our honor in this life and in the afterlife.

SourceNaharnet
Comments 45
Thumb justice 24 June 2016, 17:54

نصرالله: مقاتلو العراق ضد "داعش" طلبوا مساعدة فورية من "حزب الله" بعدد معين من كوادره وقيادييه.
نصرالله: في السنوات الاخيرة كان بدر الدين مسؤولاً عن الملفين الجهاديين في العراق وسوريا.

So he now finally admits his terror activities include but are not limited to : Syria, Iraq and Yemen in addition to Bahrain.

Thumb justice 24 June 2016, 18:01

Nasrallah: Hizbullah responded within hours to a call from Iraq's forces on sending cadres and commanders to assist the fight against the IS and the needed number of operatives was ready at dawn.

So nassrallah responded for a call to help iraqi shiite militias. Did he consult the Lebanese government or people before he sent his terrorists to Iraq?

Thumb janoubi 24 June 2016, 18:09

he does not need to. He does not recognize the Lebanese state to start with. Lebanon for him and his party is a forward Iranian base.

Missing peace 25 June 2016, 00:36

then become persian bigjohn and stop whining....

Thumb Machia 25 June 2016, 15:13

You mean the Israel that supplied the Islamic Republic of Iran weapons during its war with Iraq.
Are you talking about the "moderate" Islamic Republic of Iran that arrested all its pro-democracy leaders or that imposes the veil on its women and prevents them from attending football matches. Or the "moderate" Islamic Republic of Iran that is killing innocent Syrians by the thousands.

Thumb EagleDawn 24 June 2016, 18:03

The day this iranian sectarian terrorist is brutally murdered is the day we celebrate our independence.

Thumb janoubi 24 June 2016, 18:05

Lebanon is truly a joke: A head of a militia is on TV admitting he is sending men and arms to foreign countries right under the nose of the Lebanese authorities with impunity.

Thumb justin 24 June 2016, 18:11

Nasrallah: The Syrian regime and its allies fought for four years before Russia's intervention.

Yes, and you got wiped out before the russian intervention.

Thumb justin 24 June 2016, 18:13

نصرالله: القتال دفاعاً عن حلب هو دفاع عن بقية سوريا وهو دفاع عن دمشق وعن لبنان وعن العراق وعن الأردن الذي دفع قبل أيام ضريبة إرهابية.

He always has a moving target. From defending border shia villages ( which never existed ) to defending holy shrines in Damascus, to defending Aleppo!!!!

Thumb justin 24 June 2016, 18:15

نصرالله: 26 شهيداً واسير ومفقود هي محصلة خسارة "حزب الله" في حلب منذ بداية الشهر الجاري.

but I thought Mystic and co. said it was all lies by the saudi owned sharq awsat:)

Thumb skeletor 24 June 2016, 18:20

I beg to differ. I received not less than 35 mujahideen in the first 2 weeks of june alone and I can prove it.

Thumb marcus 24 June 2016, 18:23

نصرالله: اكثر من 800 جريح في صفوف المسلحين وتم اعطاب وتدمير اكثر من 80 دبابة والية عسكرية وهذا فقط من 1 حزيران.
نصرالله: 617 قتيلاً حصيلة قتلى المسلحين منذ بداية الشهر الجاري بينه

This terrorist has no shame:))))
Lying is second nature to him

Thumb marcus 24 June 2016, 18:25

نصرالله: المطلوب هو تواجد أكبر في حلب والصمود لإسقاط المؤامرة والمشروع التآمري.

Great news indeed. Send more of your terrorists so they meet the same fate.

Thumb marcus 24 June 2016, 18:32

The terrorist forgets to mention the US-Saudi scheme is the one bombing ISIS in Manbij and many other places in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Thumb marcus 24 June 2016, 18:32

and forgets to mention he never fought ISIS. Instead he is fighting the moderate rebels who are the real threat to Assad and Iran.

Thumb Elemental 24 June 2016, 18:37

I like how he openly admits they are Iranian with zero regard for Lebanon, YET people are dumb enough to follow them, including Christian sellouts...what a shame. Alrighty now come out and say M14/Zionist assumption garbage you fake accounts...

Thumb barrymore 24 June 2016, 18:38

Nasrallah: We will boost our presence in Aleppo and all allies must also do that because the real battle is there.

what happened to Palestine? Is it not the real battle anymore?

Thumb enterprise 25 June 2016, 06:54

Palestine goes through Sunni Aleppo.

Thumb zahle_nights007 24 June 2016, 18:40

"Nasrallah: We will boost our presence in Aleppo and all allies must also do that because the real battle is there."

Best news I have ever heard this week... Keep it up.

Thumb barrymore 24 June 2016, 18:42

Nasrallah: We do not have business projects or investment institutions that benefit from banks. We openly say that Hizbullah's budget and funds come directly from the Islamic Republic of Iran and as long as Iran has money we will have money.

Anyone still have doubt this terrorist and his organization are iranians and not lebanese?

Thumb barrymore 24 June 2016, 18:46

and he admits to the bombing when he says:

نصرالله: هناك مصارف في لبنان اعتدت على الجمعيات والمؤسسات الخيرية بإقفال حساباتها ولن نقبل بهذا الاعتداء.

Thumb Elemental 24 June 2016, 19:15

Nasrallah:"We do not have business projects or investment institutions that benefit from banks. We openly say that Hizbullah's budget and funds come directly from the Islamic Republic of Iran and as long as Iran has money we will have money."....Right, and that's why you magically put a bomb outside blom bank and detonated it as a warning lol.

Thumb Elemental 24 June 2016, 19:39

Oh bighassan, enough with your petty whining, it's getting old. Secondly, those are your leaders own words, so you not see?

Thumb justice 24 June 2016, 19:21

Listen to you talk! Seriously.... You have nassrallah admitting he is funded and owned by Iran right in front of you and you are talking about collaborators?! Are you mentally stable?

Thumb Elemental 24 June 2016, 21:16

He's probably high Justice.

Default-user-icon disgusted (Guest) 24 June 2016, 19:47

bigjohn having a meltdown as no words he spits can change what nasrallah is openly admitting. maybe you should go lie down for a while to let the truth digest.

Thumb ex-fpm 24 June 2016, 21:04

notice he never condemned the bombing on BLOM bank instead he justified the bombing as a result of the actions taken by the banking sector.

Thumb kanaanljdid 24 June 2016, 21:13

Prout

Missing peace 24 June 2016, 23:46

funny bigjohn talks about anti hezbis as COLLABORATORS while defending a man who openly says he is entirely funded by a foreign country.... and he is a "patriot" LOLLLLLLLLLL

pityful man....

Missing peace 25 June 2016, 00:37

well said! spot on! and hezbi lovers pretend they are lebanese and work for lebanon... what a farce and hypocrisy....

Thumb Machia 25 June 2016, 03:43

Nasrallah is a very dangerous sectarian criminal and psychopath that should be prosecuted. A sweaty and pudgy Hitler in turban and beard. The scum of the earth.

Thumb enterprise 25 June 2016, 06:56

prosecuted and executed

Thumb liberty 25 June 2016, 05:25

A confessed criminal

Thumb enterprise 25 June 2016, 06:55

change your name to big idiot.

Thumb Machia 25 June 2016, 07:53

Of course this thug did it.

Thumb Machia 25 June 2016, 08:01

Of course this thug did it. He also plainly threatened the banks with more terror if they dare close his people's bank accounts.
Given that our police and army cannot arrest him, I am convinced that we should start a movement of separation. We will have our independent Lebanon and they can have their Islamic Republic of Lebanon.

Thumb Machia 25 June 2016, 12:50

Time for hezbexit. Simple, let's erect a wall that will allow all those who want to live in an Islamic Republic Of Lebanon to do so. Let them have their own banking system and die as martyrs all day and night long. Let them spend their lives hating, killing and blowing people up. Their brethren in the Islamic Republic of Iran will finance their deathstyle.

Meanwhile, we will be free of their "theqel damm" (translation: their "heavyness") and we will be able to build the peaceful, prosperous and fantastic Lebanon that we love.

Missing peace 25 June 2016, 11:32

." We openly say that Hizbullah's budget and funds come directly from the Islamic Republic of Iran and as long as Iran has money we will have money."

sure very honorable to say that they have nothing to do with lebanon....

very honorable to make a distinction between lebanese and talk about "his people" as if they don't belong to lebanon...

very honorable indeed... pityful brainwashed anti lebanese miss tic....

Thumb barrymore 25 June 2016, 12:19

people like you don't know what honor is.

Thumb Machia 25 June 2016, 12:49

Time for hezbexit. Simple, let's erect a wall that will allow all those who want to live in an Islamic Republic Of Lebanon to do so. Let them have their own banking system and die as martyrs all day and night long. Let them spend their lives hating, killing and blowing people up. Their brethren in the Islamic Republic of Iran will finance their deathstyle.

Meanwhile, we will be free of their "theqel damm" (translation: their "heavyness") and we will be able to build the peaceful, prosperous and fantastic Lebanon that we love.

Thumb EagleDawn 25 June 2016, 13:10

Nasrallah: Our toll from the Aleppo battle since June 1 is 26 martyrs, one captive and one missing fighter.

But Mystic disagrees with Nassrallah:

:Mystic 17 June 2016, 20:27 80
I laughed too when I read it earlier. Real desperate Saudi rumors."

Thumb justice 25 June 2016, 14:13

he is the face of dishonor, corruption, sectarianism, terror, and crime.

Thumb popeye 25 June 2016, 17:36

Is there anything Lebanese left about this terror group?!

Thumb Machia 25 June 2016, 18:08

Of course you can do this with the Hezexit Wall. You will have your own renamed Hadi Nasrallah Airport and you could refuse visas and we will do the same in our Rafic Hariri airport 2.
You will be able to offer to your Afghani, Pakistani, Iraqi, Iranian, Yemeni and Bahraini with revoked passports a tour of the Khiam Museum and show their kids how to split their heads with a knife and hit it or how to blow themselves up in true Istishhadi form.
You can lecture them about martyrdom and the benefits of western economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Lebanon. And for fun you can take them to Syria and kill a few innocent civilians.
Meanwhile, we would be living our quite life in Lebanon. Imagine the fun. Yalla you should build the wall.

Missing cedars 26 June 2016, 03:52

A snake with poison that will remain a threat to ALL Lebanese. He basically admitted in public that he performed the bomb on BLOM. His language with Lebanese and Lebanese institutions is car bombs and assisinations. When he is dead in 20 yrs Lebanon will enjoy peace.