Crisis in region aimed at redrawing Mideast map: Nasrallah

Hezbollah’s Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah says the ongoing crisis in the region is aimed at redrawing the map of the Middle East.

Nasrallah also said on Monday night that the continuation of the presence of ISIL Takfiri group in the region serves “the interests of Turkey and the US.”

He added the campaign waged by the US-led coalition against ISIL only aims to set red lines for the Takfiri group not to “go near Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Erbil (the capital city of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region).”

The US was using ISIL as a means to scare and blackmail the people of the region to impose its hegemony, especially in Syria and Iraq, Nasrallah said.

Nasrallah said that he believes Turkey would not join the US-led coalition and accept the American conditions without receiving “genuine benefits.” Ankara has conditioned its participation in the US-led coalition on a commitment by the US to overthrow the government in Syria.

He went on to say that terrorist groups such as ISIL and Nusra Front are “incapable of invading any Bekaa area [in east Lebanon] because they are surrounded.”

The Hezbollah leader further stated that unlike ISIL, the Islam his movement represents is civilized and progressive. “We don’t approve of shedding others’ blood, nor do we allow others to spill our blood.”

The Takfiri militants have two options, he said: “to die of cold or leave in civilian clothes for Lebanon and Syria.”

“Every day that passes, we grow more certain that our fight in Syria was for the sake of protecting Lebanon; and today, we are in the axis of resistance, we stand in a position of victory,” he added.

“We have a golden opportunity to foil the Takfiri scheme,” Nasrallah said.

Hezbollah has been fighting foreign-backed militants, including ISIL Takfiris, in Syria. It has deployed thousands of fighters to the neighboring country to help President Bashar Assad’s forces who have been engaged in fighting against foreign-backed militants since 2011.

Western powers and their regional allies — especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — are reportedly supporting the militants operating in Syria.