Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem warned the Lebanese government on Friday against confronting the Iran-backed militant group, saying there would be "no life" in Lebanon in that event.
Qassem said Hezbollah and the Amal movement, its Shiite ally, had decided to delay any street protests against a US-backed disarmament plan as they still see room for dialogue with the Lebanese government.
But he said any future protests could reach the US Embassy in Lebanon.
Qassem spoke in a televised address after meeting Iran's top security chief Ali Larijani.
Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said that Qassem's statements carried an implicit threat of civil war, calling them "unacceptable".
"No party in Lebanon is authorized to bear arms outside the framework of the Lebanese state," Salam said in a post on X carrying his statements from an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat.
"The government is implementing an American-Israeli order to end the resistance, even if it leads to civil war and internal strife," Qassem continued.
"The resistance will not surrender its weapons while aggression continues, occupation persists, and we will fight it... if necessary to confront this American-Israeli project no matter the cost," he said.
Qassem urged the government "not to hand over the country to an insatiable Israeli aggressor or an American tyrant with limitless greed."
He also said the government would "bear responsibility for any internal explosion and any destruction of Lebanon," accusing it of "leading the country to ruin."
Larijani was in Beirut this week, where he met Qassem as well as with President Joseph Aoun.
Iran has expressed its opposition to the government's disarmament plan, and has vowed to continue to provide support.
