The leader of the Iraqi Hezbollah warned Sunday that he has 23,000 trained and armed men ready to attack U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf if the U.S. goes forward with military action against Syria.
Watheq Al-Battat, leader of the Iraqi Hezbollah and founder of the Jaish Al-Mukhtar milita, threatened that his group, as well as other Iraqi Shiite groups, would attack U.S. targets in the Persian Gulf if the U.S. goes forward with a military strike against Syria. (Photo provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute)
In a statement to the Iranian news agency Fars Al-Battat, Watheq Al-Battat, leader of the Iraqi Hezbollah and founder of the Jaish Al-Mukhtar milita, said his group has "23,000 fully-trained and equipped martyrdom-seeking forces who can blow the U.S. interests in Iraq and the Persian Gulf at any time if the U.S. commits such a stupid act."
He added that "the United States and the Zionist regime will definitely be defeated” if the U.S initiates a strike on Syria, according to a translation provided to TheBlaze by the Middle East Media Research Institute, a nonprofit group that monitors Middle East media and provides translations of foreign news.
Al-Battat threatened that his group, as well as other Iraqi Shiite groups, would attack American targets in the Persian Gulf if the U.S. goes forward with its plan to carry out a military strike against Syria.
"All of America's interests and bases in the Gulf and elsewhere will be legitimate targets for us, as well as to other Islamic [Shi'ite] militias such as 'Asa'ib Al-Haqq, Kata'ib Tha'r Allah, and Al-Youm Al-Maw'oud, which belongs to the Sadri movement," he told the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.
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