Nasrallah: US and Israel plotting Iran-Sunni strife

Hizbullah leader says the two countries want to set up Islamic republic as the enemy of the Arab states.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Nasrallah beirut 224.88 (photo credit: AP)
Nasrallah beirut 224.88
(photo credit: AP)
Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday accused the United States and Israel of trying to foment strife between Sunni Arab countries and Shi'ite Iran. Nasrallah said it was the aim of the US and Israel to set up Iran as the enemy of the Arab states, instead of the Jewish state. "The final battle that we are fighting is the American-Israel scheme in the region, the battle to create an Arab-Iranian conflict and a Sunni-Shi'ite conflict," said the black-turbaned Nasrallah in a videotaped message broadcast over a giant screen at a ceremony. Iran's nuclear and missile programs have alarmed Israel and some Arab states. Netanyahu pressed US President Barack Obama to step up pressure on Tehran when the two met in Washington on Monday. Iran says its nuclear program is intended for electricity production, not weapons. "Today, Iran's voice is the strongest in the world in facing the Zionist enemy. Who dares to stand at a UN conference and say what (Iranian) President (Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad said regarding Zionism and the state of Israel," Nasrallah said referring to a speech by the Iranian president in April in Geneva in which he called Israel the "most cruel and repressive racist regime."