Iran Press/ Iran news: In his first televised interview on Tuesday, Major General Ghasem Soleimani stressed that the Israeli war on Lebanon in summer of 2006 was linked to US military presence in Iraq.
The senior IRGC commander poignantly added: "US president at the time, George W. Bush put a very distasteful spin on the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, likening the wailing and crying of innocent Lebanese victims of Israeli military aggression to pangs of pain experienced during childbirth, using the phrase the birth of a new Middle East."
Asked about the hidden aspects of Israel's 2006 invasion of Lebanon, Major General Ghasem Soleimani said: "Before the 2006 war, Israel didn't accept to set free Lebanese Hezbollah prisoners that were jailed in Israel. So Hezbollah decided to capture two Israeli soldiers to swap for Hezbollah soldiers jailed in Israel, and the operation that it carried out was very successful."
He added: "Hezbollah was well-prepared before it undertook the operation to capture the two Israeli soldiers."
Elsewhere in his remarks the top IRGC General recounted how a supersonic Hezbollah missile fired from the coastline of Lebanon hit an Israeli warship off the coast and split it into two. He pointedly added: "Just one missile destroying an Israeli warship was enough for Israel to withdraw its entire navy from the summer 2006 war. After the destruction of the Israeli frigate, we didn't see much of the Israeli navy after that!"
General Soleimani added: "The Israelis didn't expect Hezbollah to have such missiles and they were completely caught off guard. It changed the course of the war."
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