US pressuring Iran for Israel recognition

Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement says US efforts to rally international pressure against Iran are aimed at maintaining the interests of the Israeli regime.

“The mounting US and Western pressure on Iran is not solely over [the country’s] peaceful nuclear activities,” IRNA quoted Senior Hezbollah official Sheikh Mohammed Yazbek as saying on Friday.

“The main reason [behind US and Westerns pressure] is to force Iran to get along with Israel and recognize this fabricated, illegitimate regime,” he noted, referring to US-brokered UN Security Council sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.

The cleric, however, downplayed the influence of “the political and economic pressure by the global arrogance and the West” on Iran, and underscored that such measures would not propel Tehran into making concessions regarding recognition of Israel.

“Under no circumstances will Iran recognize the Zionist regime (Israel),” he said.

Addressing US President Barack Obama, Sheikh Yazbek said, “Neither you, nor your predecessors have been able to undermine the grandeur, magnanimity and independence of the Islamic Republic.”

The Hezbollah official said the Israeli regime would not be able to continue its existence in the Middle East with peace, reminding that thousands of displaced Palestinians are looking forward to returning to their occupied motherland.

He also denounced the international community’s inaction toward the plight of the Palestinian nation — especially in the Gaza Strip — saying sympathy alone would not do any good to those who remain under Israeli occupation.