Wittingly — or perhaps unwittingly, because of the rapid acceleration of events — Hezbollah’s opponents have not shed much light on the latest major positions expressed by Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in his Dec. 3 interview on Lebanon's OTV. Lebanese cultural and intellectual circles, however, are preoccupied with two issues raised by unprecedented assertions by Nasrallah. One issue is external, involving Hezbollah and Iran’s vision of the United States, while the other concerns the Shiite organization’s vision of Lebanon as a nation and a state.

While talking about the nuclear agreement between Iran and the West, Nasrallah was asked whether a normalization of relations between Washington and Tehran was possible. He replied, as printed for the first time here in Al-Monitor:

In terms of principles, and even during the era of Imam Khomeini and then Imam Khamenei, the rhetoric of the Iranian leadership would always say: Our problem with the Americans is different from our problem with the Israelis. The problem with the Israelis is that they are a trespassing and illegal entity that has imposed itself on Palestine and the people of Palestine. Therefore, the Iranian position as far as Israel is concerned is decisive, and it has not changed for a single moment ever since the founding of the Islamic Republic until this very day.

As far as the US is concerned, however, Iranians would always say: The day the Americans recognize our rights, treat us with respect, negotiate with us as peers, give the people of this region their rights, abandon their hegemonic approach, sense of entitlement, arrogance, wars and monopoly, we will be ready to negotiate with them, be it directly or indirectly.