Far fetched premise

Hizbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah seized the opportunity of Jerusalem Day last Friday to call on Arabs to give their full and unequivocal support to Iran as the only remaining hope for the salvation of the Palestinians. 

Nasrallah’s call on Arabs to rally behind Tehran, which rests on his theory that “Iran’s enemies are the enemies of Jerusalem,” defies logic and historical facts. 

The Hizbollah chief went on to say that “if Syria is lost, Palestine would be lost,” and reiterated his faith that Tehran, which supports the Syrian regime, is the only guarantee left for the liberation of Palestine.

Nasrallah’s exaggerated and unfounded claims about the role of Iran in the region, and pinning all hopes on Tehran to come to the rescue of Arabs everywhere in the Middle East, went to the extent of stating that the road to Palestine is by way of Aleppo, Damascus and Zabadani, where his own forces are locked in fierce battles with forces opposed to Damascus. 

It is one thing to boast about his allegiance to Iran and reaffirm his solid reliance on Tehran, and quite another to conclude that Iran is the “only hope left for the region, after God”. 

Nasrallah has gone too far in heaping praise on Iran as the sole saviour of Arab causes, including the Palestinian one, and denying any role for other Arab capitals in the efforts to resolve the outstanding regional conflicts, thus eroding his own credibility. 

Forging an alliance with Iran is Hizbollah’s own business but to call on all Arab states to follow suit is a bit too much.