Qassem warns attack on Iran to have 'hefty prices'
by Naharnet Newsdesk 23 June 2025, 16:16
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem warned in an interview published Monday that 'the attack on Iran will have hefty prices because the entire region is in danger.'
In an interview with the Hezbollah-affiliated al-Ahed news portal, Qassem also slammed U.S. President Donald Trump's threats against Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
'Trump's threat to assassinate Imam Khamenei is a vile action and at the same an evidence of weakness,' Qassem added.
'Trump is ignorant of the reverence of this great leader among Muslims and in the world and ignorant of the dangerous repercussions of such threats,' the Hezbollah leader went on to say.
He also stressed that 'Iran will emerge victorious, because it is righteous and the one being aggressed against,' adding that 'Iran has the leadership of the brave supreme leader who is insisting that Iran be dignified and strong.'
'Iran has unified people who have left behind their disputes to be unified in the face of the American-Israeli aggression,' Qassem added.
As for Israel's continued occupation and attacks in Lebanon, Qassem said Hezbollah supports the Lebanese state's 'diplomatic choice' but would take the 'appropriate decision' if diplomacy fails to achieve Lebanon's objectives.
Hezbollah is 'ready to adopt any choice taken by the state to halt the aggression and secure Israel's withdrawal,' he said.
Noting that the reconstruction of areas destroyed in the latest war with Israel is the 'top priority' for Hezbollah and for 'the course of the state and its recovery,' Qassem said his group still retains military 'capabilities.'
'The resistance shall stay and continue and it is repairing itself. It has expressed the strength of its continuity through its people, who rushed to their villages in the South and offered martyrs to remain in their land, and also through the million-man funeral for its two (slain) secretaries-general (Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Sayyed Hashem Safieddine) … as well as through its effective contributions to the process of building the state and its institutions,' Qassem went on to say.
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