WarSclerotic

Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in the Middle East, is a ‎‎”mighty power” with an arsenal of over ‎‎100,000 ‎missiles aimed at Israel, Revolutionary Guard Corps ‎Deputy Commander Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami said in a ‎recent speech. ‎

According to the Middle East Media Research ‎Institute, Salami used recent Qods [Jerusalem] Day ‎events in Iran to explain the rationale for ‎destroying the State of Israel in Islamic ‎revolutionary thought, saying, “We are creating ‎might in Lebanon – because we want to fight the ‎enemy from there with all our strength.”‎

Hezbollah is a powerful player in Lebanese politics. ‎The Shiite terrorist group is also doing Iran’s ‎bidding in Syria, where its forces are fighting ‎alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad’s army in ‎the waning civil war. ‎

Salami also named “the Islamic army in Syria” as an ‎instrument Iran plans to use against Israel on the ‎Golan Heights, where Syria and Israel share a ‎border. ‎

He further claimed that Iran has armed the ‎Palestinians with missiles, saying that all of ‎Iran’s regional allies were “awaiting orders to ‎eradicate the evil regime.” ‎

‎”Seventy years have passed since the policy of ‎England and America planted in the Islamic world an ‎accursed and criminal tree [Israel]. For 70 years, ‎this poisoned dagger has been embedded in the body ‎of the Islamic nation, and all the problems of the ‎Islamic world stem from the existence of the false, ‎counterfeit, historically rootless, and identity-less regime named Israel,” Salami asserted.‎

‎”Israel has caused the Palestinian nation to be ‎stripped of a homeland and to roam here and there, ‎subject to serious aggression. … This historic and ‎ongoing crime is being carried out before the eyes ‎of the world. This is the most obvious sign of the ‎crimes of America, Israel, and England in human ‎history.‎

‎”In addition to the threat to Palestine’s existence, ‎the Zionist regime constitutes a threat as well to ‎the entire Islamic world. That is the philosophy of ‎the establishment of this regime,” he explained. ‎

‎”America, thousands of miles away, and behind ‎oceans, transferred its geographical, political, and ‎security territory to an Islamic land, in order to ‎create a secure political and military bridge and ‎also to create an ammunition storehouse [for it]. ‎‎[Israel] brings the range of America’s missiles ‎against the Islamic world 12,000 kilometers [7,500 ‎miles] closer, and becomes a tool for imposing ‎America’s policy against the Islamic world,” he was ‎quoted by Memri as saying.‎

‎”In 1948, 1956, 1973, and 1982, America supported ‎this regime against the Arabs, who did not manage to ‎triumph, and despair prevailed in the Arab world, ‎until the light of pride appeared in the world and ‎the imam [Ruhollah Khomeini] transformed the heart ‎of Iran with the great [Islamic] Revolution, [and ‎set] a new power against the evil of the arrogance ‎‎[U.S.], against the supporters of the Zionist ‎regime, and against this regime itself.‎ ‎”The imam [Khomeini] spread the rationale of ‎eradicating Israel as a new notion in the world’s ‎political discourse. Thus, Palestine renewed its ‎soul and came alive,” Salami declared.‎

‎”Since then, the Zionist regime is fearful, ‎delusional, and worried. After [Khomeini], Supreme ‎Leader [Ali] Khamenei united the Islamic world, ‎supported the jihad groups, and thus launched fear ‎upon the occupied lands. Since then, the Zionists ‎have not succeeded in triumphing over the Muslims in ‎any war.” ‎

Iran, he said, has “not allowed the Zionist regime ‎to spread politically in the Islamic world, and ‎stood against the dangers of this regime. Thus, ‎America suffered a great defeat in its Middle East ‎scheme. The Islamic Revolution created a mighty ‎power called Hezbollah, which today, as the Zionist ‎regime itself acknowledges, has over 100,000 ‎missiles ready for launch. Hezbollah has tremendous ‎might on the ground that can on its own break the ‎Zionist regime.”‎

Iran “invites the Muslims to jihad. … Young Muslims ‎who care are proud of fighting the Zionists, the ‎Americans, and their allies, and becoming a martyr ‎is an honor for them. This is our main might.‎

‎”The more time passes, the weaker this [Zionist] ‎regime and its allies become [and] the enemies of ‎the Zionist regime became stronger. Against them, ‎the Zionists are paralyzed,” he proclaimed.‎

‎”I say to the Zionists that the Americans’ coming to ‎your rescue is like an ambulance coming after the ‎patient has already died. You must submit to [your] ‎sealed fate.”‎

The Islamic republic, he said, has “a duty to defend ‎the Palestine movement that is now fighting ‎‎[Israel]. We must squeeze the throats of the enemies ‎from afar. We must give them no chance to come near ‎us, or to focus on us. We are monitoring them from ‎afar, and grabbing them by the throat in other ‎places. ‎

‎”We and the Islamic world are all in the same boat, ‎and our security is interconnected. We are defending ‎Syria because this is in defense of the oppressed as ‎well as defense of Iran. We are creating might in ‎Lebanon because we want to fight our enemy from ‎there with all our strength.‎ ‎”The enemy is spread throughout the Islamic world, ‎and the uniform of jihad is an honor for Muslims,” ‎Salami said.