BEIRUT: Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah warned the United States Friday that any war against allies Iran and Syria would engulf the entire region, adding that Iran would retaliate harshly to such measures.

“They [U.S.] should understand that a war against Iran and Syria will not remain in Iran and Syrian territory, but it will engulf the whole region and there is no escaping this reality,” Nasrallah said during a televised speech on the occasion of Hezbollah’s martyr's day.

Echoing words of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that any U.S. attack on the Islamic Republic would be met with “iron fists,” Nasrallah said that Iran would respond harshly to any war.

“Iran is strong, solid, united and has a one-of-a-kind leader and it will retaliate harshly,” he said.

The Hezbollah chief also said that the U.S. is currently attempting to compensate for what it lost during the Arab uprising starting with the ouster of former Egyptian President Honsi Mubarak, Tunisia’s President Zein al-Abidine and slain Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

“These changes in the region are not in the interest of the U.S. and as a result the resistance is gaining momentum,” he said.

In recent days, a war of words has sparked between Israel, Iran and the U.S. as the Jewish State and Western powers called for further sanctions on the Islamic Republic following a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s suggesting Iran was working on designing an atomic bomb under the cover of a peaceful energy program.

Israel, which test-launched a long-range missile earlier this month, has said that Iran’s controversial nuclear program poses a threat to its existence and said all options were open to confront Iran.

“The U.S. wants to subjugate Iran and force it to have direct negotiations with it and wants to subjugate Syria to accept what it has never accepted in the past,” Nasrallah said, adding that Iran has repeatedly refused to have direct negotiations with U.S.

Nasrallah also touched upon domestic issues including the possible sanctions on Lebanon should the country fail to pay its $32 million share toward the U.N.-backed court probing the assassination for former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

He drew an example of the U.S.’s recent stunt to cut funding of UNESCO after the international organization accepted President Mahmoud Abbas’ bid a Palestinian membership, saying that the U.S. was not threatened with sanctions when it failed to meet one of its international obligations.

“Wasn’t funding UNESCO an international obligation? Why is the U.S. allowed to contravene its obligations while Lebanon is not afforded the same?” Nasrallah asked.

“And if the court was not funded,[U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jeffrey] Feltman has the audacity to threaten Lebanon with sanctions,” he added.

Western powers have warned Lebanon that sanctions could ensure should the country fail to abide by its commitments to international resolutions, particularly those dealing with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which in late June accused four members Hezbollah in Hariri’s assassination.

Hezbollah and its allies in the March 8 coalition, which considers the court as unconstitutional and politicized, represent the majority in the current government headed by Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who has repeatedly voiced his support to the issue of funding the the international court.

“This government has proven to be diverse and truly representative of all political parties … with a parliamentary majority … It is a government that discusses issues among its members and does not receive SMS from Feltman or anyone else,” Nasrallah said.

The leader also touched upon a recent law that allows Lebanese who fled to Israel following the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon to come back. The law also stipulates that Lebanese who were members of the South Lebanese Army, a militia supported by Israel during the Civil War, would be prosecuted.

“We were the ones who supported the proposal which was presented in Parliament … it was also mentioned in the memorandum of understanding between us and the Free Patriotic Movement,” Nasrallah said.

He also described the issue as a humanitarian issue, urging the government to swiftly issue related decrees.

Nasrallah, who is currently in hiding, reiterated that Lebanon has become stronger and more capable of fending off Israeli attacks given the resistance’s readiness.

“It is unlikely that Israel would wage war against Israel … Lebanon is in a position where it can turn the tables on those who attack them,” Nasrallah said, describing Israel as the worst enemy known by history.

“You ask our people and resistance to surrender their arms, then you are asking us to become defeated and disgraced people who do not learn from their experiences,” he said, adding that the tripartite formula of “the army, the people, and the resistance” is Lebanon’s element of power.

Lawmakers of the March 14 coalition have repeatedly criticized Hezbollah’s possession of arms, urging the resistance to give up its arms and join the Lebanese Army. They have also refused to join any attempts of national dialogue unless the issue of Hezbollah’s arsenal is discussed.