Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah terror group, gave a televised speech Tuesday, shutting down rumors about his poor health and lashing out at “crazy officials” in Israel’s new “government of corrupt criminals and extremists.”
“I would like to reassure you that there is no need to worry at all,” Nasrallah said in an address to mark the third anniversary of the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US air strike in Iraq.
Nasrallah, 62, dismissed rumors mentioned in some Israeli and international news outlets that he had had a stroke or was near death, after a speech planned for Friday was called off. Nasrallah, who coughed and had a hoarse voice throughout his address, explained that he has had a “trachea allergy” for the past 30 years.
“After what was said in the Israeli and Gulf media, I would like to reassure you that there is no need to worry at all,” he said.
“I apologize for making you worry,” he told supporters. Lebanese media affiliated with Hezbollah had reported that Nasrallah was suffering from the flu, preventing him from speaking normally and this was the reason for the canceled speech.
The Hezbollah chief also addressed the new Israeli government, as well as the controversial visit to the Temple Mount Tuesday morning by the far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
“The new Israeli government is a government of corrupt criminals and extremists,” Nasrallah said, according to a translation by the Lebanese Naharnet news site.
He said that any “harm against al-Aqsa might blow up the entire region,” and issued a message to the international community to “rein in those crazy officials in Israel” in order to prevent war.
“We will not tolerate any change” in the fragile balance of power between Israel and Lebanon, he said. “We tried Netanyahu for a long time and we do not fear him.”
Soleimani, who as commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps IRGC was the architect of Iran’s regional military activities, was killed in a US drone strike in neighboring Iraq. He is hailed as a national icon among supporters of Iran’s theocracy.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday vowed revenge for his killing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.