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Iranian Defense Minister: We Will Continue Arming Hezbollah, Hamas; US Remains “Great Satan”

Iran’s Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said that Tehran will continue arming Hezbollah, Hamas, and “any group of the resistance to the U.S. and Israel,” and explained that the Islamic Republic still considered America to be the “Great Satan,” in an interview translated and transcribed by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) yesterday.

“Hizbullah does not need us to supply them with rockets and arms. Israel and the U.S. need to know this. Today, Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and Hizbullah have the capability of producing their own resources and weapons themselves. Nevertheless, we shall not refrain from supporting them.” …

“They received the technology from us and from others, and today, they produce them themselves. I officially declare that under no circumstances will we refrain from providing material and moral support to Hizbullah, or to any group of the resistance to the U.S. and Israel.

Iran’s stated intent to arm Hezbollah violates existing United Nations sanctions, with Secretary of State John Kerry saying earlier this month, “The UN Security Council prohibitions on shipping weapons to Hizballah, the Shiite militias in Iraq, the Houthi rebels in Yemen – all of those will remain as well.”

Earlier in the interview, Dehghan claimed that the “U.S. administrations insist on a policy of arrogance towards others,” and explained why Iran considered the United States to be the “Great Satan.”

Ayatollah Khomeini called the U.S. the ‘Great Satan,’ and there is nothing strange about it. This name was given on the basis of the principles of the holy Quran, which clearly points to Satanic characteristics, conduct, and goals. Since the end of World War II, the U.S. has dedicated itself to a policy of instigating strife, discord, and wars between the world’s nations. They have occupied countries and carried out conspiracies all over. They have meddled in the affairs of others, and have toppled independent regimes. All these policies have been solely to serve American interests.

The Times of Israel reported last week that Dehghan described the nuclear deal as a surrender of the United States and other Western power to Iran.

“Today, Iran has attained such status that the superpowers have surrendered to it, because of its majesty, its steadfastness, its resistance and its unity.

“Despite their great pride, the regime of the arrogance [the West, led by the US] sat humbly behind the negotiating table and obeyed the rights of the Iranian nation…”

Dehghan has been adamant, both before and after the agreement was signed, that Iran would not allow inspections of military sites, even though the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had said that such inspections were essential in establishing the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program.

Dehghan has been previously implicated in the 1983 Hezbollah bombing of the American Marines barracks in Beirut, which killed 241 servicemen.

[Photo: MEMRI-TV / YouTube ]