The Outpouring of Your Martyrdom… The Tempest of Transformation
Al-Akhbar Newspaper
Mohammad Raad - Head of the Loyalty to the Resistance Parliamentary Bloc
Two years in the life of the Resistance have passed, yet they feel like an eternity, given the pain and challenges they have carried. It is as though fate has singled out our faithful people and the path of their Resistance for an intensive course of special preparation, commensurate with the role expected of them in confronting injustice and the unjust, corruption and the corrupt, occupations and occupiers, and the usurpation of rights and those who usurp them. It is a difficult and formidable role, one that, as stated in a saying attributed to the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him, can be undertaken by “none but a near angel, a sent prophet, or a man whose heart God has tested with faith.”
Two years of hardship have passed, containing within them the promise of an anticipated ease whose dawn will break through patience, steadfastness, and sacrifice. In our belief, ease does not wait for hardship to end; rather, it accompanies it, awaiting the opportune moment to write a new chapter of events—one shaped by the will of the believer who has faith in his Lord, places his trust in Him, and abides by the principles of His divine laws that lead to change and development, for both the individual and society, toward what is more complete and purer.
Such is the cycle of life for believers who see what others do not.
Two years have passed, and the Leader of the Resistance watches from his exalted place the actions of the enemies, the deeds of the Resistance fighters, the schemes of the conspirators, and the condition of the vulnerable among our believing and great people.
Two years have passed since his martyrdom, during which two contradictory paths have emerged, contending with one another in the reality of the country and the region, with each path’s vision colliding with the other’s over how to shape the present and the future.
One is a path of submission to the forces of domination and tyranny and their agents. The proponents of this path and their camp have grown weary of the “illusions” of national and pan-Arab sovereignty and independence, and of the dreams of dignity, freedom, and human honor.
They have become so disillusioned, to the point of contempt and aversion, with calls for steadfastness and resilience, with efforts to reject humiliation, and with support for the Resistance, its project, and its heroes. They have also abandoned what they claim is reliance on its role and capabilities, which they deem inadequate or disproportionate to those of the enemies and occupiers, as well as to the expertise of international thieves and purveyors of deception and hypocrisy—from the false pretense of recourse to international law to the lies and distortions surrounding the alleged protection of human rights.
Their deviation has reached the point where they have embraced the concepts of the domineering and plundering powers of the colonial West, which promote a tendency toward selfishness and exclusionary individualism, as well as savage racism that safeguards the special prosperity of one’s own nation at the expense of the rest of the world’s peoples and inhabitants.
Satan has led the proponents of this path and their camp astray, casting them into the abyss of denial and disavowal of their roots and of the principles of patriotism and dignity. They have willingly accepted for themselves the role of servants to the self-appointed guardians and pretenders, and to their projects.
As for the other path, it is the path of those who believe in God, who remain steadfast in their national belonging and identity, their free will, and their human dignity—with all that this requires of high resolve, a sense of responsibility, the closing of ranks, and steadfastness in confronting enemies who resort to overwhelming force to impose their choices on peoples and states, seize control of homelands and resources, and dictate ways of life and patterns of behavior.
This is a path on which only those who truly believe in God and in human dignity, and who are prepared to sacrifice themselves and everything they possess and hold dear, can remain steadfast and continue along its course toward its goals, in pursuit of upholding truth, establishing justice, and lifting oppression from the vulnerable among the people.
They are not alone. They are surrounded and supported by honorable and proud people from the wider community, who share with their Resistance fighters the conviction and belief in the foundational principles of liberation—principles without which no human society, homeland, or nation can rise, except by adhering to them, remaining steadfast in them, and sincerely defending them.
Our Most Exalted Martyr
Two years have passed, yet our wound has still not healed.
And today, the homeland remains a target for the arrows of the Zionist aggressors and occupiers, the volleys of those who have broken their pledges and colluded, and the trivialities and recklessness of opportunists seeking to climb their way to prominence.
As for your family, and the Resistance fighters who are your brothers and sons, they remain as you knew them: the noblest of people, the most honorable of people, the purest of people, and the most faithful of people. They remain committed to your path of steadfastness and resilience, categorically rejecting weakness and surrender. They are not deterred by the authorities and their entourages distancing themselves from their national responsibility to liberate the land, condemn the aggressors, and deter them.
Nor are they deterred by the incessant hooting of owls across the airwaves of paid-for media outlets, which seek to spread frustration, undermine morale, sow hatred, spread fear and doubt, incite division and exclusion, stir up strife, justify the crime of dealing with the enemy, and practice every form of deep-seated malice.
Yet despite all of this, on the anniversary of your martyrdom and your ascent toward the abode of eternity and the attainment of divine pleasure and bliss, we bring you the pledge of our resolve to continue adhering to the path of guardianship and Resistance against the enemies of religion, the homeland, and humanity, until liberation and victory. We are not driven by illusion, nor haunted by dreams; rather, we convey to you our certainty that adherence to the path of guardianship and martyrdom means committing ourselves to an equation whose outcome can only be victory and divine pleasure.
The occupation will not take root in our land. It will inevitably be driven back by the Resistance of your sons, your brothers, and your free and honorable people, whose resolve the enemy has failed to break. Neither the pain of separation from loved ones, nor the hardship of displacement, nor the misery of forced exile and uprooting has bent their will or weakened their determination, even as they find it deeply painful that some in authority and some fellow citizens have colluded with the occupying invaders and the appointed guardians of the tyrants of the American and Western axis of domination—an axis that sponsors, supports, and shelters the approach of genocide, injustice, and aggression in the region and the world.
On your martyrdom anniversary, O Leader of the Resistance, our most exalted martyr, we tell you that our priority has never ceased to be, and will remain: driving out the occupation and rejecting submission; protecting national sovereignty and preserving civil peace in our homeland; and supporting the causes of truth and justice. And we shall remain the roaring wave of the sea set in motion within us by the Imam, the disappeared Sayyed Musa al-Sadr—may God return him and his two companions.
We shall remain the enduring flame of the liberationist revolution launched by Imam Khomeini, may his soul be sanctified. We shall remain the driving force of the Resistance Axis that we have built together with all the honorable forces of Resistance in our region, with the endorsement, support, and care of the martyred Leader, Sayyed Ali Khamenei, may God exalt his station. And we shall remain faithful to the testament of our martyred leaders: Sheikh Ragheb Harb and Sayyed Abbas al-Mousawi, and our senior jihadist brothers, may God’s blessings be upon them all.
And we shall remain, O our Most Exalted Martyr, the bearers of your fluttering banner, upholding truth, driving back aggressors, confronting injustice, and establishing justice. In doing so, we fulfill our religious and moral duty, and our share of loyalty, allegiance, and jihad in pursuit of the dignity of humanity and the homeland, and in spreading and upholding the values of the divine mission.
We take pride in our support for the central cause of the Ummah: the legitimate and just cause of Palestine, and for the Resistance of its oppressed and persecuted people. We regard what we have done in support of Gaza and its people as a humanitarian and moral duty, and an honorable act of solidarity against the Zionist occupiers, who have committed the most heinous crime of genocide—one that brings shame upon the conscience of humanity throughout the world—and which constitutes a stain of disgrace upon them and upon all those who supported them in committing it or remained silent in the face of it.
The entire world, and the oppressed among its peoples in particular, will bear witness that Hezbollah in Lebanon has not been defeated and will not be defeated; and that, like a starfish, whenever one of its limbs is severed, another emerges in its place—one capable of assuming responsibility, fulfilling its duty, carrying out its tasks, correcting its course of action, and achieving its objectives.
And here we are today, following alongside the free people of the world how the Islamic Republic of Iran is confronting the war of aggression imposed upon it by the criminal US administration, in partnership with the Zionist terrorist entity, through injustice and tyranny, with the aim of nullifying and overriding the will of the courageous Iranian people and forcing them to change their political and national choices.
As everyone within the Resistance Axis does their part, the belief that the aggression can be blunted, its objectives thwarted, and the ability to assert one’s presence and capacity to reject its domination and policies demonstrated is a realistic one, grounded in a careful assessment of developments, an understanding of the sources of strength and points of weakness, the nature and methodology of each side’s conduct, and the alternatives available to both parties.
The memorandum of understanding signed by the American and Iranian sides to end the war revealed the state of affairs within the US administration and the confusion besetting it, as well as the dynamics shaping its conduct. This made it easier for Iran to choose effective and consequential means of achieving successes, despite all the US attempts at shameful sophistry and its maneuvers to evade responsibility and persist in defiance—maneuvers that contributed to shattering and exposing the false veneer of civilization used to conceal its internal decay, criminal and racist tendencies, and denial of human rights, as well as its dubious selective use of international law and its institutions and organizations.
As for the “Israeli” Zionist partnership in the aggression against Iran and its people, and the audacity to assassinate the Supreme Leader and martyred Leader, Sayyed Ali Khamenei, may God sanctify his soul, this will not go unanswered by the Iranians; those responsible will be held to account and punished.
Anyone familiar with the convictions and principles of reasoning adopted by the leadership and officials of the Islamic Republic can be certain of the inevitability of legitimate retaliation against the savage Zionist enemy for the heinous and condemned crime it committed, and for the subsequent attacks and indiscriminate bombardment of facilities and civilians in Iran, in addition to the genocide it has perpetrated in Palestine, particularly in Gaza—an act of human destruction whose brutality has had no parallel in history.
This is in addition to the crimes and blatant violations of international law and human rights that the Zionist enemy has committed, and continues to commit, in Lebanon: beginning with its persistent crime of maintaining the occupation, followed by its expansion and extension despite the conclusion of the 27 November 2024 agreement to cease the aggression; continuing through the wave of assassinations, the pager massacre, the destruction of institutions, the displacement of civilians, the demolition of homes, the leveling of land, and the removal of borders and landmarks; and culminating in pressuring the authorities in Lebanon to sign an instrument of surrender and submission, granting the occupier a mandate to continue its occupation and its threats against the Lebanese people and national sovereignty, all the way to eliminating Hezbollah and ending the presence and arms of the Resistance.
Iranian reckoning with the Zionist enemy for these violations is therefore unavoidable. Accordingly, the region will witness manifestations of this reckoning in the time ahead.
O Most Beloved Leader of the Resistance, you have long striven and worked to loosen the grip of American hegemony on our region, not merely on Lebanon. You have repeatedly called for the withdrawal of US foreign forces and military bases from our countries across West Asia.
The interests of the peoples of the region undoubtedly lie in their liberation and in freeing their countries from entanglement in the network of American influence and the Zionist colonial alliance. The interests of the enemies, by contrast, lie in entrenching and strengthening their domination and hegemony over the peoples and states of the region, and in supporting the expansion of the Zionist entity toward the establishment of “Greater ‘Israel’,” which the forces of hegemony in general, led by the United States, would use as an advanced military outpost for aggression against the region, deployed “on demand,” and as a guardian—or rather, an arm—for protecting the interests and projects of the hegemonic West.
The aggressive war whose signs have been emerging one after another, should the Americans, their allies, and their proxies insist on fanning its flames, will determine the future contours of West Asia and the balances that govern the region. It will also determine the future of US bases in the countries of the region, whether they remain or are evacuated.
aturally, Iran’s ability to withstand the storm of this war will be a decisive factor in determining the future of the struggle against the Zionist enemy, its entity, and its expansionist ambitions, as well as the prospects for the struggle and effectiveness of the Resistance Axis and the liberation movement more broadly against the influence of hegemonic and domineering powers and their footholds in the region.
Speaking of you, O our master and foremost leader of our Resistance, is also to speak of your partner, your right-hand man, and the Secretary-General who swiftly followed you after your passing: the martyred leader, Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, may his soul be sanctified. He accompanied you throughout your efforts and leadership, sharing with you the various tasks and following up on initiatives aimed at building and strengthening the effectiveness of the Resistance society across a wide range of cultural, mobilizational, scouting, social, educational, professional, health, and developmental fields, as well as through specialized centers and institutions firmly established and deeply rooted in their presence and impact.
None of this would have been possible without his sincere commitment and profound love for his people throughout Lebanon—from the South and the southern suburbs, through Beirut and the Mountain, to the Bekaa, Baalbek-Hermel, the Jbeil and Keserwan areas, and the North and Akkar.
It was an ongoing development endeavor whose plans and distribution he oversaw, following its progress and outcomes through our brothers responsible for this work, who labored diligently and sincerely across the various units, regions, and sectors.
On your martyrdom anniversary, we bear witness that the two of you, together with your other brothers in the leadership of the Resistant party, shared the vision, projects, and course of action; confronted difficulties and challenges; accomplished tasks; and shared responsibilities.
You went before us—or rather, the two of you went before us—and, one after the other, you received the medals of preserving the testament and adhering to guardianship, and the medal of martyrdom in the path of God. In your absence, we place our full trust, sincerity, loyalty, and resolve in our dear brother and entrusted Secretary-General, Sheikh Naim Qassem, may God preserve him, and in the other esteemed leaders in the Shura Council and the journey of Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance, to rise to all that is required to fulfill our religious, moral, and national duty, until God grants us and our people the honored victory, and blesses us with a good outcome and acceptance of our deeds.
