Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah expressed on Wednesday during a televised speech his joy over Trump’s loss, saying: “On a personal level, I’m very happy about Trump’s humiliating downfall.”
Nasrallah described Trump’s administration as “among the worst, if not the worst” in the history of the United States, but said that the new US president would not make a change in Washington’s pro-Israel policy in the Middle East.
“I don’t think Joe Biden will reverse Trump’s position on Jerusalem,” he said, adding that he could adopt a different approach to the two-state solution.
Moreover, Nasrallah noted that the main element of American foreign policy will continue to ensure Israel’s interests under the next administration.
He went on to criticize the US for imposing sanctions on Lebanese officials, as two former ministers from Hezbollah-allied parties were also blacklisted in September.
“With what legal and moral right does the US classify who is corrupt or not? A country that is the leader in terrorism and corruption,” he claimed.
Gebran Bassil, president of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), was also blacklisted on Friday by the US under the Magnitsky Act for corruption and human rights violations.
In a speech on Sunday, the FPM leader said that the prime demand of the US was for him to break his alliance with Hezbollah and that there was “no mention of corruption” in his conversations with US officials.
Nassrallah said that Bassil went to him to inform him that the US gave him two choices, opening sanctions, but that “he wouldn’t comply with the demand to break ties with Hezbollah, because it would compromise Lebanon’s independence and freedom….”
Nasrallah commented that “it was a courageous and patriotic stance” from Bassil and yet he advised him “to take any position to avoid getting harmed,” offering to help him in ‘any way he can.’
Nasrallah went on to address talks between Lebanon and Israel over maritime border demarcations, stressing that the negotiations did not mean that a normalization of relations would follow.
He explained that “the resistance” (Hezbollah organization) doesn’t interfere in the land and border demarcations. “This is the responsibility of the Lebanese state through its constitutional institution, the state decides what the borders are and the resistance will adopt that and defend it,” he said.
He issued that all his party demanded was for the talks to be indirect and for them to be on technical matters only so that foreign companies could later be able to invest in those areas.
He added that if the results of the talks get to the Parliament or Cabinet where his party has representatives, then they will decide if they announce their opinion or not.
Mentioning the recent military exercises by the Israeli army on the border, Nasrallah said that they were defensive in nature and aimed at dealing with a Hezbollah attack against northern Israel during any future war.
Nasrallah reiterated that his fighters were on high alert during these exercises should the Israelis strike under the cover of those maneuvers, and that his allies in Syria were also ready for a confrontation.
“If the Israelis think of waging any aggression, our response will be very fast,” he threatened.
Additionally, Nasrallah called on everyone in the axis of resistance to be cautious during Trump’s last two months’ tenure, warning that “Trump might do anything during these two months.”
