Beirut: Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah refused to confirm or deny Israeli allegations his group had obtained long-range Scud missiles from Syria and said he did not think Israel was seeking a pretext for war.
Nasrallah, in an interview with Kuwait's Al Rai television broadcast on Thursday, said the claims were an attempt to "intimidate" the armed Lebanese political group and Syria.
"I cannot say that it [war] is close. Myself and brothers in Hezbollah see that all this intimidation does not hide behind it a war. On the contrary, if there was silence and quietness, then everyone must be be vigilant," he said.
Noise
"But when you see all this American and Israeli noise, this means they want to use this noise to achieve political, psychological and certain security advantages without resorting to the step of war." Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006 during which the guerrilla group fired thousands of short-range Katyusha missiles into the Jewish state.
Israel is worried the group have replenished their arsenal.
US security team visit draws flak
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry was joined by other officials and the militant Hezbollah group in criticising on Thursday a visit by a US security team to the Lebanese-Syrian border.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah called on the government to explain "why a US security delegation from the Counterterrorism Office visited the Masna'a border with Syria."
He described the visit on Lebanese territory "as a major security violation".
