Hezbollah’s No. 2: US strike on Syria mere ‘muscle flexing'
In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Sheikh Naim Qassem, the deputy secretary-general of Hezbollah in Lebanon, spoke about the US military strikes on a Syrian air base and Israel and its potential moves in the region among other things.
![MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA-HEZBOLLAH Lebanon's Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters at his office in Beirut's suburbs, Lebanon August 3, 2016. REUTERS/Aziz Taher - RTSKVYY](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2017/04/RTSKVYY.jpg/RTSKVYY.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=UEuzJnEf)
In an exclusive two-part interview with Al-Monitor, Sheikh Naim Qassem, deputy secretary-general of Hezbollah, dismissed the April 6 US military strike against the Shayrat air base in Syria as “muscle flexing” and a “one-time incident.”
Speaking April 8 in Beirut, Hezbollah's number 2 also called the missile strike a “blatant and unjustified attack.” Qassem argued, “There was no investigation into what actually happened in Khan Sheikhoun,” which on April 4 had been the target of the apparent chemical weapons attack that led US President Donald Trump to order the missile strike as a warning to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom he blamed for the incident.