“Saudis seek to dictate to Yemen, so that this nation genuflects to them and surrenders; but Yemenis seek independence today,” Hezbollah Secretary General Nasrallah told Iranian Arabic-language television channel AlAhvaz, IRNA reported on Friday.
Saudis cannot stand to see their neighboring countries have popular governments and a change of power, fearing that it could set an example for people in Saudi Arabia, he said.
Riyadh, Nasrallah said, seeks to turn Yemen into “scorched earth, prevent its unity and development, and even not let the Yemenis prospect for natural resources on their own soil, so that they stay poor and in need.”
He, however, stressed that “the Yemeni nation’s victory is near” and said the Arab country “is not willing to return to the time of servitude to Saudis,” referring to the reign of former Saudi-friendly regimes in Yemen.
“Because of this, what we are witnessing in Yemen today is the carnage of the country’s people,” Nasrallah said, referring to the ongoing Saudi war on Yemen.
Yemen has been under military strikes on a daily basis since Saudi Arabia launched military strikes against its southern neighbor on March 26, in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to fugitive former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.
Some 6,400 people have reportedly lost their lives in the Saudi attacks, and a total of nearly 14,000 people have been injured since March.
‘Syria Pivotal in Resistance Front’
In his interview, the Hezbollah secretary general also commended Syria with having a “pivotal and great position in the resistance front.”
“Resistance is a key factor in preventing the realization of American plans and that’s why they seek to destroy it,” he said.
The Hezbollah chief said, in order to make Syria collapse, billions of dollars have so far been spent, tons of weaponry and tens of thousands of armed troops dispatched, and campaigns waged by international and Arab media outlets to trigger religious rifts.
Syria has been gripped by a foreign-backed militancy since 2011. The United Nations says more than 250,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
Without any authorization from Damascus or a United Nations mandate, a US-led coalition has been pounding the purported positions of ISIS, which has been among the terrorist groups wreaking havoc in Syria, since last September.
The mission has fallen severely short of dislodging the terrorists, who have seized parts of the violence-scarred country; Press TV reported.