Zionist regime had sought to destroy Iran, but Tehran won

The war took place under the pretext of confronting Iran’s nuclear activities, the Lebanese resistance movement’s chief, Sheikh Naim Qassem, said during an address on Friday.

The Zionist regime imposed the war on Iran on June 13, targeting the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities and other infrastructures as well as various officials and ordinary civilians.

Sheikh Qassem noted that the regime launched the warfare, while all the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s inspectors had confirmed the peaceful nature of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy activities.

“It, therefore, became clear that Israel’s true aim was to destroy Iran, but Tehran succeeded in achieving victory.”

The official was pointing to the Iranian Armed Forces’ successful defensive and retaliatory operations throughout the aggression that forced Tel Aviv to call for a ceasefire after no more than 12 days.

‘Hezbollah prevented Israeli occupiers from reaching Beirut’

Elsewhere in his remarks, the resistance leader commended Hezbollah for preventing Zionist regime’s occupiers from reaching the country’s capital, Beirut, during Tel Aviv’s last round of escalated, deadly aggression against Lebanon.

He was referring to the movement’s determined defense of the country throughout the escalation that the Israeli regime had started out in October 2023.

The escalation began in response to Hezbollah’s operations in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who had come under an Israeli genocidal war.

Facing the regime’s intensified assaults on Lebanon, Hezbollah not only refused to ease its operations but also mobilized its full defensive power to repel Israeli incursions into southern Lebanese regions.

Sheikh Qassem also referred to the ceasefire agreement that came about last November, as part of which the regime agreed to end the aggression in the face of Hezbollah’s resolve to stand up to Tel Aviv’s atrocities.

He noted that the movement has remained committed to the terms of the deal, while the regime has violated it at least 3,800 times.

“The entire world has witnessed the occupiers’ failure to comply.”

He put the Zionist regime’s violations down to Tel Aviv’s having found the agreement to be in Lebanon’s interests.

“So, they began pushing to amend it and resorted to pressure tactics in order to impose the changes they wanted,” the official said.

‘US seeking to disarm Hezbollah in favor of Israel’

Sheikh Qassem added that today, the United States -- the regime’s staunchest supporter -- was also trying to enforce a deal in Tel Aviv’s favor.

“The US has proposed a new agreement, which essentially means pretending that all the aggression and ceasefire violations over the past eight months never even happened,” he said.

The resistance leader, however, noted that the entire reason behind this push was disarming Hezbollah.

“The Americans want to disarm the resistance in order to reassure Israel.”

‘Israel racing to snuff out resistance before it takes root’

The official, meanwhile, addressed the Zionist regime’s recent escalation against Syria.

“Why has Israel attacked Syria and targeted that country when it faces no threat there whatsoever?”

“They aim to suppress any movement that could grow into resistance against Israel’s expansionist agenda in the region. They attack anything that could potentially pose a threat to them,” he added.

‘US aligned with Israel in war on Syria’

According to Sheikh Qassem, the US was fully aligned with the regime in the latter’s escalated attacks on Syria.

Washington, he added, was working to expand its own influence in the region.