The head of Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah said his group will not be intimidated by threats or sanctions into giving up its rocket capability, urging his government in comments Saturday to contend with the diplomatic pressure it faces.
Hassan Nasrallah also warned that his organization would mount a "harsh response" to any Israeli strike in Lebanon.
Nasrallah said Israel had recently tried to increase the pressure on the group's rocket arsenal and to create "a state of intimidation and threat that if this matter is not dealt with, [Israel] will deal with it."
Israel has enlisted "the Americans and even some European states" to assist in this effort, Nasrallah asserted.
Israel has been closely monitoring Hezbollah's effort to upgrade its already sizable weapons arsenal, believed to comprise some 100,000 projectiles.
During his Sept. 28 address to the U.N. General Assembly, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed that the Lebanon-based Shiite terrorist group, which is heavily sponsored by Iran, was building at least three weapon-production sites in the heart of Beirut, with the aim of turning its arsenal of missiles into precision-guided projectiles.
The latest intelligence suggests the new facilities are being built near Beirut's international airport, under a soccer field, and in the vicinity of a densely populated residential area, all with aim of protecting them from potential airstrikes by deliberately placing civilians in harm's way.
"I say to Lebanon that it must bear this level of diplomatic pressure," Nasrallah said. "Any attack on Lebanon, any airstrikes on Lebanon or bombardment – we will certainly respond harshly," he stated.
He further insisted the Shiite terrorist group, which wields significant political power in Lebanon and is part of its government, be given a portfolio in a new Lebanese cabinet, and indicated it would be ready to go back to square one in negotiating a government if necessary.
Hezbollah's demand is at the heart of a row that has obstructed a final agreement six months since a parliamentary election.
The establishment of a new government is necessary before any moves can be made toward fiscal reforms, which the International Monetary Fund said in June are needed immediately to improve debt sustainability.
Hezbollah says one of its Sunni allies must be represented in the government to reflect their election gains.
Lebanon's political system requires government positions to be allotted along sectarian lines.
But prime minister-designate Saad Hariri, who is Lebanon's main Sunni politician and enjoys Western backing, has ruled out allocating any of his cabinet seats to them.
Nasrallah said rejecting a Sunni ally from its March 8 camp amounted to exclusion of a section of Lebanese.
"We were sincere when we spoke of a national unity government. There is no national logic, or moral logic, or legal logic ... for anyone in Lebanon to come out and say, it is forbidden for the March 8 Sunnis to be represented in the Lebanese government,'" Nasrallah said.
"If it is forbidden, come let's talk again from the start," he said, adding: "We don't want conflict, or tension, or escalation."
President Michel Aoun vowed earlier on Saturday to find a solution to the problem. Though a political ally of Hezbollah, Aoun has sided with Hariri in the row.
