Hezbollah leader blasts Saudi intervention in Yemen, says Riyadh backs extremists
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this July 25, 2014, file photo, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah speaks during a rally to mark Jerusalem Day or Al-Quds day, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. On Friday, March. 27, 2015 Nasrallah , in a televised speech, slammed Saudi Arabia over its military campaign in Yemen saying it is being launched under false pretexts. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File) (The Associated Press)
The leader of Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah group has slammed Saudi Arabia's intervention in Yemen, calling it "surprising and painful."
Hassan Nasrallah rejected Riyadh's claim that it had assembled a coalition to conduct airstrikes against Shiite rebels in order to save Yemen, and accused it of ignoring the Palestinians in their decades-long struggle with Israel.
Hezbollah, like Yemen's Houthi rebels, is supported by Iran, which Saudi Arabia views as its main regional rival.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In some of his harshest comments to date, Nasrallah accused Saudi Arabia of sending suicide attackers to Iraq and of creating the Islamic State group. Addressing Saudi Arabia, he said Iran had expanded its influence in the region because "you are lazy, losers, and you don't take responsibility."