Iran, Syrian leaders laud Hezbollah ‘victory’

updated 4:46 p.m. ET Aug. 15, 2006

TEHRAN, Iran - The leaders of Iran and Syria said Tuesday that Hezbollah defeated Israel, with the Iranian president telling a cheering crowd that “God’s promises have come true” and the Syrian chief saying U.S. plans for reshaping the Middle East have been ruined.

Tehran and Damascus may be the biggest winners from the 34 days of fighting in Lebanon — buoyed by the ability of ally Hezbollah to stand up to Israel’s punishing assaults and by the new, widespread popularity of the guerrillas across the Middle East.

Hezbollah didn’t come out of the war unscathed as a fighting force, and its domination of southern Lebanon and attacks on Israel are likely to be hampered by the deployment of the Lebanese army and international troops in that territory.

But the Shiite Muslim movement appears to have been strengthened inside Lebanon thanks to broadened support across the country’s ethnic and religious communities.

Syria and Iran both ridiculed U.S. hopes for eliminating the guerrillas and belittled Israel’s high-tech military as useless against Hezbollah.

“The Middle East they (the Americans) aspire to ... has become an illusion,” Syrian President Bashar Assad said in Damascus.

“We tell them (Israelis) that after tasting humiliation in the latest battles, your weapons are not going to protect you — not your planes, or missiles, or even your nuclear bombs ... The future generations in the Arab world will find a way to defeat Israel,” Assad added.

‘Banner of victory’
A few hours later, Iran’s leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saluted Hezbollah for hoisting “the banner of victory” over Israel.

“God’s promises have come true,” Ahmadinejad told a huge crowd in Arbadil in northwestern Iran. “On one side, it’s corrupt powers of the criminal U.S. and Britain and the Zionists ... with modern bombs and planes. And on the other side is a group of pious youth relying on God.”

Analysts said both countries now feel stronger in their own individual disputes with the West and that the alliance of their hard-line governments is stronger now, in contrast to the Mideast bloc of pro-U.S. governments.

“Both Syria and Iran have achieved a political victory,” said Dawood al-Shirian, a Saudi Arabian who hosts a talk show on Dubai television. “Lebanon once again has paid a heavy price, and Syria and Iran have once again taken credit.”

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