"Lebanon maritime deal was not recognition of Zionist entity"

Hassan Nasrallah started his televised speech on Thursday afternoon.

Hezbollah chief appears via Al-Manar addressing “Ardi” Exhibition for traditional Lebanese food, according to Al-Manar TV website.

Time of “Ardi” Exhibition’s inauguration has been set earlier and it coincides today with the signing of maritime deal, the Al-Manar website said.

The speech came almost an hour after Beirut signed a deal with the Israeli regime to mark the maritime borders. The deal between Beirut and Tel Aviv regime was signed by Yair Lapid and Michel Aoun without normalizing ties.

After signing the maritime demarcation deal, Aoun stressed that it is just a technical issue with no political meaning. He said that Lebaon is still in a state of war with the regime.

At the start of his speech, Nasrallah denounced terrorist attack on an Iranian shrine in Shiraz and offered condolences to Imam Khamenei and Iranian nation.

Those who have been behind riots in Iran are themselves who killed innocent people in Shiraz, according to him, adding "Iran is the symbol for all oppressed people in the world."

Nasrallah saluted Palestinian resistance in West Bank and Gaza, hailed martyr Udai Tamimi, “Lions’ Den” and all other martyrs in Nbalus, Jenin and Shuafat.

Developments in Palestine indicated new and promising course of events that will draw new equations, he added.

Hezbollah chief said about earlier today's deal "As the formal measures of the maritime deal are finalized, the resistance’s mission is accomplished and all exceptional measures taken by Hezbollah are now over.

"We in Hezbollah consider what happened regarding the maritime deal since the beginning till the end is a great victory to Lebanon’s state, people and resistance," he added.

"Some in Lebanon were surprised by finalizing the maritime deal, their spite made them blind," adding "Claims on normalizing ties between Lebanon and the Zionist entity after the maritime deal are baseless and false accusations."

"Maritime talks were indirect, Lebanese and Israeli delegations never met in one room," Nasrallah pointed out.

 Lebanese officials never did any suspicious step that might indirectly imply normalization of ties with the Zionist entity, he added.

 Maritime deal is a letter, it’s neither an international accord, nor a recognition of the Zionist entity, according to Hezbollah chief.

MNA