Former Jordanian Ambassador to Iran Sheikh Bassam Al-Amoush: Missiles Fired at Saudi Arabia Were Iranian; Hizbullah Is Slaughtering the Syrian People

Sheikh Bassam Al-Amoush, former Jordanian ambassador to Iran, said that missiles fired by the Houthis against Saudi Arabia were Iranian missiles. Warning about the role of Hizbullah in the region, he said: "Hassan Nasrallah is mightier than the Lebanese president, mightier than the state." "Why are they such 'heroes' when it comes to slaughtering the Syrian people?" he asked. The interview aired on November 21 on the Jordanian Roya TV channel. Sheikh Al-Amoush is an Islamist politician and an imam. In a 2014 sermon, he claimed that Jews use children's blood for Passover matzos (see MEMRI TV clip Friday Sermon By Former Jordanian Minister: Jews Use Children's Blood For Their Holiday Matzos, August 22, 2014.)

Bassam Al-Amoush: "I'd like to tell you about the Iranian people. I am not a spokesman for the Iranian people, but I can tell you that the Iranian opposition issued a statement today, in response to the statement of the Arab League. They demand the expulsion of Iran from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Iranians are demanding this, not me. They demand that ties with Iran be severed. The economic interests of Iran lie with the [Arab] countries. Pakistan and Afghanistan are a liability for Iran. Its interests lie with us. Why can't we build our relations in accordance with our interests, like all the countries of the world do? The [opposition] asks us to recognize it. Why shouldn't we? Iran supports all the opposition groups in the Arab world. When Sadat was assassinated, they named a street after [his assassin] Khaled Al-Islambouli. This means that they incite to such things. [The opposition] consists of Iranians. Let's talk about the oppression of the Iranian people. There have been 120,000 executions of Iranians in the prisons."

Host: "What is my problem with Hizbullah?"

Bassam Al-Amoush: "With your permission... We'll talk about Hizbullah, but we are now talking about the Iranian intervention. Let me ask you something. The Hajj is an Islamic religious practice, so why do the Iranians turn it into a venue for demonstrations? Iran turns the Hajj into a season for declaring its disavowal of America. This is nonsense. They have politicized the Hajj. The missile [launched on Riyadh] – who says the Houthis even have these missiles? These are Iranian missiles. Even if Iranians produced them in Yemen, they are still Iranian missiles.

"When the Houthis had their six wars with Ali Abdallah Saleh, the so-called 'Lebanese' Hassan Nasrallah would warn Saleh not to harm the Houthis. What is he? The Lebanese foreign minister? The president? Hassan Nasrallah is mightier than the Lebanese president, mightier than the state. Did Nasrallah get the permission of Lebanon to go and fight in Syria? He said that he was a subordinate of the Jurisprudent Ruler (Khamenei), and that he was not hiding it. Imagine that a Jordanian citizen – you, him, or me – declares that he is a subordinate of Iraq? Or of Nicaragua? That's illegal. Besides, this is not just a political opinion. He sent military forces. Had it been for the sake of the resistance...

"When Hizbullah fought Israel, everybody applauded. We support anybody who fights that enemy. But where was the resistance when Gaza was covered with [white] phosphorus? Wasn't it an opportunity to fight Israel on two fronts – in the south and the north? Why are they such 'heroes' when it comes to slaughtering the Syrian people? I'm not saying that they are the only ones doing it. The terrorists may have been perpetrating slaughter as well. But let me tell you, when a terrorist carries out a bombing, he kills ten people, whereas the Russian planes, the Iranian planes, the Syrian planes, and the militias that infiltrate the people – they leave [many] casualties behind. We denounce the terrorist groups and accuse them of collaboration, but they couldn't have killed the entire Syrian people all by themselves."