Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday called on his supporters to donate money as the party comes under increasing pressure from Western sanctions intended to isolate it financially.
"The sanctions and the terror lists are a form of war ... we should deal with them as if they are a war," Nasrallah said in a televised speech on the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Islamic Resistance Support Association, Hezbollah’s fund-raising arm.
He called on Hezbollah supporters to remain steadfast in the face of these pressures and said the group's enemies would be "disappointed".
"Their actions will not be able to make us poor, hungry or isolated. Those that support us will continue in their support - be they countries, people or our people and the people of resistance in Lebanon," Nasrallah said.
"The resistance needs your support ... because we are in the heart of the struggle," he told his supporters.
He also expected US sanctions “to get tighter on us and our supporters.”
"We may see new names, and new people, and new organizations added to the sanctions lists,” the Hezbollah chief said.
The United States deems all parts of Hezbollah a terrorist organization and has been steadily increasing financial sanctions against the Iran-backed movement.
Britain last month said it would list all elements of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization for destabilizing the Middle East, breaking with the rest of the European Union which proscribes only its military wing.
Nasrallah also promised that Hezbollah will forge ahead with its promised battle against corruption.
“We consider ourselves in a battle that is no less sacred than the resistance’s battle against the enemy,” he said.
He also called on those who accuse the party of corruption to go to the judiciary.
