Tehran Jomhuri-ye Eslami in Persian 25 Jul 98 p 12

 Interview with Hojjat ol-Eslam Seyyed Hasan Nasrallah, secretary general of the Hizballah of
               Lebanon, by Pasdar-e Eslam "during a visit to Tehran"

[Boxed item] Hojjat ol-Eslam Seyyed Hasan Nasrallah, secretary general of the Hizballah of
Lebanon, held an interview with PASDAR-E ESLAM some time ago during a visit to Tehran
in which he described the characteristics of the Islamic resistance movement in Lebanon, the
developments in the region, the position of the Hizballah with regard to the conspiracies of
Israel, and the situation of the intifadah. We call to your attention parts of this interview. [end
boxed item]

[PASDAR-E ESLAM] In today’s world, Islamic resistance and the Hizballah of Lebanon are
recognized as being on the highest peak of the holy war of truth against the filthiest front of
falsehood—that is, the Zionist regime—by all the Muslims and free people of the
world. As the secretary general of the Hizballah, please explain your views about the main
reason for the grandeur and invincibility of Islamic resistance.

[Nasrallah] In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful. In fact, the main issue in
Islamic resistance is the issue of faith, in other words, these fighters’ faith in Islam and the
Koran, faith in God and the day of judgment, and their commitment to pure Mohammadan
Islam and the line of the imam.

Their faith, commitment, and religious belief caused the creation of a movement with courage,
resistance, and a spirit of martyrdom and self-sacrifice. In short, the fighters of the Islamic
resistance in the Lebanese scene envision themselves fighting in the desert of Karbala under
the banner of his holiness Imam Hoseyn. This is the main reason for the power,
steadfastness, and invincibility of the Islamic resistance. No matter what path the enemy has
chosen to dominate this resistance, it has not succeeded so far, for example, in frightening
and creating fear and terror in their hearts. These fighters are not afraid of the enemy. The
ultimate weapon in the hands of the enemy it uses to threaten them with death, but when
human beings embrace martyrdom and death, then there is no way to frighten them.

Thank God, Islamic resistance has fought so far for 19 years joyfully and with excellent
morale and will continue to do so. I know that the fighters and the beloved Lebanese young
people will be able to continue this path for dozens more years, God willing.

[PASDAR-E ESLAM] Considering the emphasis of the late imam on the necessity of the
elimination and destruction of the usurping Israeli regime, how do you evaluate the future of
this regime?

[Nasrallah] We see the future in this way, that God willing, Israel will certainly be eliminated.
Israel is a cancerous cyst. It is a germ of corruption, as the imam said, and it is an unnatural
presence in the region and cannot exist in this region. Now that the governments of the region
have chosen to compromise rather than fight, with regard to the revolutionary and popular
movements which are becoming larger every day, we have set most of our hopes on the
nations. The grounds for struggle and holy war against this usurping enemy are
strengthening every day, and we think that sooner or later this evil presence will face
destruction. We are certain of such a future. It is just a matter of time. The region is moving in
this direction, and Israel cannot impose its existence on the nations of the region.

[PASDAR-E ESLAM] What are the most recent developments in the existing situation of the
southern front?

[Nasrallah] Thank God, in the past few years the Islamic resistance has had successful
operations and has struck strong and mighty blows to the Zionist enemy. I claim and will
prove that the power and the morale of the Israeli military have diminished. Not only the
military, but the Israeli intelligence organization that has always been presented in the world
as first-rate and a very strong, advanced organization has been discredited in southern
Lebanon. This was very important. Add to that the number of casualties and wounded and the
problems that were created for them and the internal pressures by the families of the soldiers
and military officers who do not want their children to be killed in Lebanon. In short, the
Israelis have reached the point that they bring their best forces, that is, the elite of the Israeli
military, and their best military commanders to the battlefield in southern Lebanon. The recent
commander who came after a few years and is now in the region is specialized in guerrilla
and anti-guerrilla warfare and is the best person in Israel in this connection. They make use
of all technological and military resources but have casualties daily. For this reason, they
were forced to think about leaving Lebanon. I believe that they are very serious and want to
get out of the situation. But you know that these Israelis are used to getting something before
they withdraw, and for this reason, they have offered a plan and say that they are prepared to
withdraw, provided the government of Lebanon guarantees their security. When they say
security guarantee, what do they mean? It means the disarming of the Hizballah, the
dissolving of the Hizballah military organization, the Lebanese military to be stationed at the
border, and Israeli mercenaries to be given general amnesty.

Hence no one in Lebanon can accept this, and the resistance and the interests of the
resistance should always be taken into consideration because it is not clear when Israel will
invade Lebanon again. In short, these conditions that Israel set are rejected in Lebanon, and
no one accepts them, not the government, not the parliament, not the people, and not the
political groups. Finally, we believe that this plan will fail. The plan that is acceptable is for
Israel to withdraw unconditionally from the Lebanese occupied lands, and nothing else is
acceptable.

[PASDAR-E ESLAM] In the past few months, the Hizballah opened the way for the
participation of other sects and tribes in Lebanon in the holy war against Israel. What were
the reasons and the results?

[Nasrallah] The Hizballah always invited all Lebanese to participate in resistance. In the early
days and in the beginning, many did not accept it, but with the passage of time, the victories
that they all saw, when they saw that it was possible to win and defeat Israel, the resistance
appeared and became established as a reality in Lebanon. Some said that the Hizballah only
used Shiites, and this is monopolistic. We said that we were prepared to use all tribes and all
political groups who want to participate in the resistance. We created a special organization
called the Lebanese Resistance Regiment to fight Israeli occupiers. The goal of this plan and
organization was to provide the grounds for the participation of others. Thank God, the goal of
this plan has so far been achieved, and no longer can anyone in Lebanon say that we are
monopolists.

A large number of various Sunni, Druse, and Christian tribes came and, in much greater
numbers than we expected, they have now organized and are being trained. Some have also
been trained and are participating in the operations. Last year, when we gained many
victories in southern Lebanon, especially after the martyrdom of my son "Hadi," a large
number of young Muslim and Christian people came to offer me their congratulations. In
these meetings, they all insisted that they wanted to participate in the anti-Israeli operations.
We took advantage of the climate that was created after his martyrdom and announced this
plan, and it became clear that they have a great deal of confidence in the Hizballah and the
leadership of the Hizballah to be prepared to fight against Israel under the command of the
Hizballah. Thank God, this plan has been successful so far and continues and has its place.
We believe that we will gain more success in this connection every day. This is one of the
blessed results of the blood of Martyr Hadi.

[PASDAR-E ESLAM] How do you evaluate the situation of the intifadah and its future?

[Nasrallah] After the compromises of Yasir ?Arafat with the Zionists, the signing of the Oslo
Accord, and the coming of ?Arafat to Gaza—that is, inside the occupied
lands—the "intifadah" was put under pressure from two directions, and the Israeli
security organization struck strong blows to the body of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. You
know, these two movements were and are the main force of the intifadah. They besieged the
Islamists, imposed pressure, jailed a number of people both in the prisons of ?Arafat and in
Israeli prisons, and even martyred a number of people. But we are hopeful for the future
because the grounds are quite prepared. The path that Yasir ?Arafat chose reached a dead
end. His lies became clear to the people. The claim of peace is not true, and I think that
day-by-day the people of Palestine inside the occupied lands are becoming more determined
in this belief, that the only way to get their rights and liberate their land is the path of the
intifadah and holy war and struggle. We are certain that this people’s intifadah and holy war
will reach its height, even though at the present time a very difficult situation governs the
Palestinian territories. The person who was able to inflict a harsh blow on Palestine was
Yasir ?Arafat himself and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

[PASDAR-E ESLAM] What message do you have for the Muslim nations?

[Nasrallah] Now the Islamic nations of the world are feeling the problems first hand. The great
people of Iran have experienced it, and I am not saying anything new. Only a few points need
to be emphasized. First, against U.S. imperialism and Zionism, we have no other way but
holy war. Negotiations, peace, and compromise with them will have no consequence but
misery and defeat.

Holy war will endear all of us. If we rely on God, we will be very strong. The imam said"The
United States can do nothing." Some may say that it was the Islamic Republic of Iran that
stood up and the United States could do nothing. I say, what happened in Lebanon can be
proven on the basis of the depth of the imam’s statement. After all, Iran is a large Islamic
republic; it had a population of 30 million and now has a population of 60 million. It has a
large armed force; it has many resources. But in Lebanon, the Lebanese Muslim fighters were
able to expel the U.S. Navy through the martyrdom operations, and the United States could
do nothing.

A small group called the Hizballah stood up against Israel; that is, Israel that had brought
misery for 50 years to the Arab Muslim nations became miserable with regard to a group
called Hizballah. Why? Because this group engaged in holy war; this group chose holy war
and will continue it with all its might.

The second issue, which in my opinion is even the condition for the first one, is the issue of
guardianship and leadership. We saw that with the Palestinian people fighting for 50 years,
giving hundreds of thousands of martyrs and wounded, several million people became
refugees and were expelled from that country; they fought throughout the world. The military
and holy war operations that the Palestinians accomplished were very great. What we have
done so far in the name of the Hizballah is very small compared to it because they did it for 50
years. But where did it all end? Because of the leadership of ?Arafat, it ended in misery.

The issue of leadership is an important issue for the Islamic nation. If we do not resort to what
God has chosen for us and commanded us, our future will certainly be a bad future. We will
lose our dignity, we will lose our unity, God will not look upon us, and He will not help us.
God will help us when we act in accordance with the verse, "Obey God, obey the Prophet,
and obey their guardians." When we obey God and obey the Prophet and the guardians, then
God will look upon us, give us strength, give us ability, and give us victory. Especially under
such conditions, when we see that the imperialist world insists on imposing on everyone the
existence of Israel becoming decisively recognized and is out to make all the Muslim and
Arab nations and governments submit to this reality, it is very dangerous. We must fight it,
fight U.S. imperialism and the Zionists. In my opinion, no fight, struggle, resistance, or holy
war is possible without guardianship and the imamate and obedience to the leader.

My message and statement to all, especially those who have experienced it, is to make use
of their experiences. God willing, we will all be obedient to guardianship and the imamate
and will be able to continue under the power of the grand leader and prepare the grounds for
the appearance of his holiness Hojjat ebn al-Hasan, may our souls be sacrificed for him. God
willing, he and we will pray to be his loyal soldiers, be able to eliminate oppression and
corruption on earth, and establish the government of divine justice, God willing.