Ahmadinejad lauds Hezbollah's courage

TEHRAN, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated Hezbollah for its stance on Israel, saying the region should rid itself of Israeli "evil forever."

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in a video address Tuesday commemorating the Israeli assassination of several leaders of the Shiite resistance movement issued a stark warning to his arch foe.

"If you hit our ports, we will bomb your ports, and if you hit our oil refineries, we will bomb your oil refineries," the Hezbollah leader said.

Ahmadinejad in a phone call to Nasrallah praised the Shiite strongman for taking a stand against Israel, Iran's Mehr News Agency reports.

If "(the Israelis) want to repeat the mistakes of the past, then their case should be closed once and for all and the region gets rid of their evil forever," the Iranian president said.

Hezbollah and Israel fought a bruising 34-day war in 2006. Israeli tensions with Lebanon have escalated over border security concerns since last summer.

Ahmadinejad said it is evident that the Israelis "fear resistance" and are unable to compensate for failed policies because they "fear its consequences."

Hezbollah is considered a regional proxy for the Iranian regime.