Hezbollah Leader Admits Group Gets Weapons from Iran

Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of the Lebanese Islamist party Hezbollah, has reportedly acknowledged that Iran is aiding the group by sending money and weapons via Syria.

In an interview published in the Egyptian publication Masr al-Youm, Nasrallah also said Hezbollah is willing to receive aid even from Muslim countries that have diplomatic ties with Israel, such as Egypt, and from moderate countries critical of the Hezbollah actions that sparked the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, the Israeli Web site Haaretz.com reported.

Nasrallah said Hezbollah – which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization – kidnapped two Israeli soldiers in an effort to obtain the release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel, but admitted that he had made mistakes.

“Perhaps we erred – only God does not make mistakes – and we have apologized to the Lebanese people for this and have paid a heavy price in blood,” he said in the interview with Egyptian academic Saad Eddin Ibrahim.

But he went on to declare: “We do not hesitate to sacrifice our children in the name of our righteous struggle.”

Two days after the interview appeared, Hezbollah officials dismissed it, saying in a statement that some parts were “inaccurate” and others were “completely unfounded.”

A Hezbollah official told the English language Daily Star in Lebanon that no formal interview had ever taken place.

Ibrahim stands by his story, declaring: “They can deny that it took place, but I met with him for two hours on January 11, 2007.

“Nasrallah told me that Hezbollah had been receiving aid from Iran from day one, and that it was coming in from Syria.”

He also told The Daily Star: “If they want to deny it for their own political convenience, then that’s up to them.”