Hezbollah leader warns U.S. against causing chaos in Lebanon

BEIRUT, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday warned the United States against causing chaos in Lebanon.

"We won't keep mum over U.S. schemes; whoever pushes Lebanon toward chaos and collapse has to expect chaos in the entire region, especially in the Zionist entity," Nasrallah said in a televised speech on the al-Manar TV.

Nasrallah said that Lebanon in 2019 entered a new phase of a "U.S. scheme aimed at bringing Lebanon back to the era of Washington's control, which is responsible for the deliberate withdrawal of cash and deposits from Lebanon, leading to the current economic crisis."

He said the record low exchange rate of Lebanon's national currency against the U.S. dollar needs to be dealt with urgently, calling for reviving the agricultural and industrial sectors and substantial investment in Lebanon's oil and gas resources.

Nasrallah accused the U.S. of impeding Syrian people's access to humanitarian aid, and leaving them to die due to its "oppressive" sanctions on Damascus.

"The U.S. failed in this humanitarian test again ... It waited nine days until it introduced limited exemptions for Syria regarding the Caesar Act," he said, referring to the U.S. move to ease sanctions on Syria after the recent devastating quakes.