Hezbollah's chief said Sunday he rejected United States control over Lebanon after the Iran-backed group's weakening in a war with Israel ushered in a new Lebanese leadership seen as close to the West.
"We do not accept for the tyrant America to control our country," Naim Qassem said during a televised speech broadcast to tens of thousands attending the funeral for Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a Beirut stadium.
"You will not gain through politics what you failed to gain in war," he said.
Qassem also insisted the militant group remained strong and was ready to face off with Israel despite a November Hezbollah-Israel truce that ended more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war.
"The resistance is not over, the resistance is still present and ready" to face Israel, he said.
Earlier this month, US Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus said the group was "defeated by Israel", declaring "the end of Hezbollah's reign of terror".
Qassem said: "Know this Americans, if... you try to pressure officials and Lebanon, you will not be able to achieve your goals", adding "officials in Lebanon know the balance of powers".
"Do not interpret our patience and wisdom in assessing priorities as weakness," he warned.
Long the dominant force in Lebanese politics, Hezbollah suffered staggering losses in a war with Israel that saw Nasrallah, its leader of more than three decades, killed in a massive air strike in September.
Hezbollah suffered another seismic blow with the ouster on December 8 of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, which it had long used as its weapons lifeline from Iran.
After more than two years of political stalemate, the weakening of Hezbollah allowed former army chief Aoun, widely believed to be Washington's preferred candidate, to be elected president and Nawaf Salam approved as his premier.
He said the group would keep following Nasrallah's "path, we will uphold your will," adding: "you are still with us: your... path and struggle live within us".