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Hezbollah's Russian Connection

Jean Aziz asks whether Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has reassured his base following two televised speeches in nine days.
People applaud as Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah appears on a screen during a live broadcast to speak to his supporters at an event marking the 25th anniversary of the establishment of Al-Nour radio station, which is operated by the Hezbollah in Beirut, May 9, 2013. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS MEDIA ANNIVERSARY) - RTXZGEQ
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For the second time in nine days, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah appeared in a televised speech, knowing that both appearances fall into the same political context — one that was previously discussed in this column to indicate three reasons behind the timing of the two appearances and speeches.

The previous article detailed the first reason behind the appearance of Nasrallah, which was to confirm the religious tenets and the ideological justification of Hezbollah’s stance on the Syrian situation. The second reason was directly related to the political developments in Lebanon and its neighboring regions, starting with the visit of Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov to Beirut on April 26 and 28. The Russian minister’s visit to the Lebanese capital after Tehran and Damascus is not without meaning. Clearly, Russia, Iran, Syria and Hezbollah have been coordinating at some level and have tackled all the regional developments and stances taken in this regard by any of the elements of this new axis.

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