beirut, jan. 5 (xinhua) -- hezbollah leader sayyed hassan nasrallah urged on sunday its fighters to attack u.s. soldiers in the region in retaliation for the assassination of iranian top commander qassem soleimani by the united states.
"the resistance should force american soldiers to leave iraq and our region. this is the least that can be done in retaliation for this awful crime," nasrallah said during a beirut memorial for soleimani and the others who were killed in a u.s. drone strike in iraq on friday, al manar local tv channel reported.
nasrallah said that when american soldiers return to their homeland in coffins, u.s. president donald trump will then be aware that he has lost iraq and the region and only then will he lose the upcoming elections.
qassem soleimani, head of the elite quds force of iran's islamic revolution guards corps, and iraqi militia commander abu mahdi al-muhandis were assassinated by the united states in baghdad.
nasrallah said that if the resistance does not retaliate, this would take the region into a *erous phase where it will be opened to further attacks by the united states and israel.
nasrallah said that trump resorted to violence by assassinating soleimani because he aims to improve his image in front of the american population ahead of the upcoming presidential elections.
nasrallah explained that israel considers soleimani as being the most *erous man in iran and a threat to its existence.
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