1 of 2 | Hezbollah and their Shiite allies in Lebanon vowed to support Iran and Syria against potential intervention by Western countries.
Photographed, Syrian mourners carry the body of anti-regime protester shot dead by security forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad the previous day during a group funeral procession in the town of Nawa, Darra city, Syria, in November 11, 2011 . Syria freed more than 1,000 prisoners in an apparent last-ditch bid to placate Arab leaders as Turkey and the United Nations warned President Bashar al-Assad to stop killing his own people. UPI |
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BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Hezbollah and their Shiite allies in Lebanon vowed to support Iran and Syria against potential intervention by Western countries.
Israel was suspected of considering a military strike on Iranian nuclear installations as the U.N. nuclear watchdog said in a report that it believed Tehran was working on an nuclear weapon. Syria, meanwhile, is facing international isolation because of a crackdown on regime opponents, which left more than 3,500 dead since mid-March.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said this month that Washington was trying to divert attention from its failed policies in the Middle East. The Shiite movement in a statement with its allies in the Amal Movement said Lebanon won't be a proxy for Western aggressors.
Both parties expressed their "firm support" for Iran and warned Lebanon wouldn't be a "conduit" for action against Syria.
"They said that what is happening in Syria is an international conspiracy targeting Syria's rejectionist position and its policies which support the Arab and Muslim resistance movements, particularly in Palestine," Lebanon's Daily Star newspaper quoted a joint statement as reading.
The Amal Movement is led by Lebanese Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri.
Robert Watkins, acting U.N. special envoy for Lebanon, last week called on Beirut to make sure its borders were secured, expressing concern over recent incursions by the Syrian military.
