News / Russia

Moscow: Hezbollah is a legitimate socio-political force, not a terrorist organization

Sunday, 15 November 2015 10:16 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 15 November 2015 10:30 PM ]

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov

Moscow says it does not consider Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and will continue relations with the Lebanese resistance movement.

“Some say Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. We maintain contacts and relations with them because we do not consider them a terrorist organization,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov was quoted as saying on Sunday by Reuters.

The political party was founded in mid-1980s primarily to defend the Lebanese soil against the Israeli occupation and aggression. The regime’s occupation of a strip of south Lebanon in 1982 led the resistance fighters through a long anti-occupation campaign to finally liberate the region and force the regime forces to withdraw on May 24, 2000.

“They have never committed any terrorist acts on Russian territory. Hezbollah was elected by people to the Lebanese parliament. There are cabinet members and ministers who are from Hezbollah in Lebanon. It's a legitimate socio-political force,” Bogdanov further added.

The resistance movement is also fighting Daesh Takfiri terrorists in Syria and giving aid to the Syrian government to curb the terror group.

Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah slammed the deadly terror attacks by Daesh in the French capital Paris late Friday.

“I deem it necessary to officially condemn the terrorist attacks in Paris, which were committed by Daesh,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech on Saturday.

Hezbollah currently holds 12 seats out of 128 seats of the Parliament of Lebanon and the two ministers of state and agriculture.

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