Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah appeared on TV to deny rumors that he has cancer and was transferred to Tehran for treatment. His appearance was carefully planned from a psychological warfare perspective. By listening to his speech, experts will conclude that he is not sick and is in fact behind his desk in Beirut directing operations. The speech also portrays him as competently confronting the internal sectarian strife knocking on the door.

Three psychological features were apparent in his speech. They are part of a “psychological-security plan” aimed at denying rumors of his illness and at showing that he is still in the country.

First: his calm demeanor. He did not raise his finger threateningly at Israel as he used to, even though Israeli jets are overflying Lebanon in an unprecedented way these days, conducting mock raids at low altitude over border areas. Nasrallah’s calm demeanor revealed that the party possesses an “advanced psychological missile” fired at Israel and the party’s many enemies. The objective was to leave the impression that Nasrallah is in excellent psychological health, indicating that his physical health is also sound.

Second: the context. Nasrallah used his appearance — which was ostensibly intended to deny that he was afflicted by cancer or that he was in Iran — to also address recent political developments, some of which happened a few hours before his speech. He mentioned Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s statement, made two hours before Nasrallah’s appearance, in which the former announced he was withdrawing his electoral proposal. Nasrallah wanted to signal that he is monitoring events very closely and is not bedridden in Tehran. His speech contained dozens of instances designed to give the impression that he is closely monitoring events.