:Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
BEIRUT -- Hezbollah head Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that the Lebanese resistance movement would wait for results of an investigation into the Beirut port explosion, but if it turns out to be an act of sabotage by the occupying regime of Israel then it would "pay an equal price”.
Nasrallah said in a televised speech that the two theories under investigation were that either an accident due to negligence, or sabotage caused the explosion of warehoused ammonium nitrate.
The Zionist regime has denied any involvement in the Aug. 4 blast that killed 172 people, injured 6,000, damaged swathes of the city and left 300,000 homeless, but its provocative moves in the lead-up to the explosion has raised many suspicions.
Lebanon’s president has said investigators were looking into negligence, an accident or "external interference”.
Nasrallah said that among sabotage possibilities, was a deliberate fire or the planting of a small bomb. "Who could be behind an act of sabotage? It could be this side or that, and it could be Israel, which nobody can deny,” he said.
Hezbollah was waiting for the Lebanese probe’s results and if it found "this was a terrorist sabotage operation, and that Israel had a role, then not only Hezbollah will respond. The entire Lebanese state ... must respond,” he said. "Israel will pay a price the size of the crime if it committed it.”
Hezbollah has fought many wars with the occupying regime of Israel and famously shattered its myth of invincibility several times.
Lebanon’s Prosecutor General has pressed charges against 25 people, including senior port and customs officials, a judicial source said on Friday.
Nasrallah spoke shortly after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said while in Beirut that the international community should help Lebanon rather than impose its will on the country.
"It is not humane to exploit the pain and suffering of the people for political goals,” Zarif said, adding that Lebanon should decide on its future.
Western states have linked financial assistance to reform of the Lebanese state, which has defaulted on its huge sovereign debts, in a clear example of meddling in Lebanon’s internal affairs.
Visiting U.S. Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale said Lebanon needs to enact financial reforms, establish state control over ports and borders, and revamp the power sector.
French Defense Minister Florence Parly called for the formation of a government capable of taking "courageous decisions”.
Nasrallah on Friday supported Lebanon’s investigation into the Beirut port, but Hale said a team of FBI investigators is due to arrive in Lebanon this weekend to take part in the probe, prompting questions if Washington is worried about the results of the Lebanese government’s investigations.
Hale also stressed the need for full control over ports and borders in Lebanon. "We can never go back to an era in which anything goes at the port or borders of Lebanon,” he said.
Nasrallah said he did not trust any foreign investigation, in a clear reference to the FBI’s purported assistance.
He also called on the Lebanese to remain patient and resilient in the wake of the deadly blast, warning that some specific factions in the Arab country were seeking to use people’s misery to take down the state.
"Some political powers in Lebanon seek to take down state for personal, foreign interests,” he said.
Nasrallah also said that Lebanon’s government needed to be supported by political factions and parliament, calling for a new Lebanese government that has political protection.
Nasrallah said in a televised speech that the two theories under investigation were that either an accident due to negligence, or sabotage caused the explosion of warehoused ammonium nitrate.
The Zionist regime has denied any involvement in the Aug. 4 blast that killed 172 people, injured 6,000, damaged swathes of the city and left 300,000 homeless, but its provocative moves in the lead-up to the explosion has raised many suspicions.
Lebanon’s president has said investigators were looking into negligence, an accident or "external interference”.
Nasrallah said that among sabotage possibilities, was a deliberate fire or the planting of a small bomb. "Who could be behind an act of sabotage? It could be this side or that, and it could be Israel, which nobody can deny,” he said.
Hezbollah was waiting for the Lebanese probe’s results and if it found "this was a terrorist sabotage operation, and that Israel had a role, then not only Hezbollah will respond. The entire Lebanese state ... must respond,” he said. "Israel will pay a price the size of the crime if it committed it.”
Hezbollah has fought many wars with the occupying regime of Israel and famously shattered its myth of invincibility several times.
Lebanon’s Prosecutor General has pressed charges against 25 people, including senior port and customs officials, a judicial source said on Friday.
Nasrallah spoke shortly after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said while in Beirut that the international community should help Lebanon rather than impose its will on the country.
"It is not humane to exploit the pain and suffering of the people for political goals,” Zarif said, adding that Lebanon should decide on its future.
Western states have linked financial assistance to reform of the Lebanese state, which has defaulted on its huge sovereign debts, in a clear example of meddling in Lebanon’s internal affairs.
Visiting U.S. Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale said Lebanon needs to enact financial reforms, establish state control over ports and borders, and revamp the power sector.
French Defense Minister Florence Parly called for the formation of a government capable of taking "courageous decisions”.
Nasrallah on Friday supported Lebanon’s investigation into the Beirut port, but Hale said a team of FBI investigators is due to arrive in Lebanon this weekend to take part in the probe, prompting questions if Washington is worried about the results of the Lebanese government’s investigations.
Hale also stressed the need for full control over ports and borders in Lebanon. "We can never go back to an era in which anything goes at the port or borders of Lebanon,” he said.
Nasrallah said he did not trust any foreign investigation, in a clear reference to the FBI’s purported assistance.
He also called on the Lebanese to remain patient and resilient in the wake of the deadly blast, warning that some specific factions in the Arab country were seeking to use people’s misery to take down the state.
"Some political powers in Lebanon seek to take down state for personal, foreign interests,” he said.
Nasrallah also said that Lebanon’s government needed to be supported by political factions and parliament, calling for a new Lebanese government that has political protection.
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