TEHRAN - Steven Sahiounie, a Syrian American award-winning journalist, tells the Tehran Times that although the U.S. and its regional allies “have pumped billions of dollars” in West Asia and have assassinated resistance leaders, the Axis of Resistance is stronger than ever before.

“The U.S. and its regional allies have failed to prevent the expansion of the Axis of Resistance, even though they have pumped billions of U.S. dollars to demonize them in the media, and have assassinated several leaders such as General Qassem Soleimani, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Imad Fayez Mughniyeh, and others,” Sahiounie tells the Tehran Times.
“For example, today the Lebanese Resistance and Palestinian Resistance are stronger than ever before and 'Israel' doesn't dare to launch a war against them,” noted Sahiounie, who lives in Lattakia, Syria, and has been covering the war in Syria since 2012.
The following is the full text of the interview:

Q: How do you see the role of the Axis of Resistance in West Asia’s equations? 

A: The role of the Axis of Resistance in the West Asia region is fighting imperialism, and working on liberating the occupied lands of Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria, who are occupied by 'Israel', as well as liberating the entire region from the United States' occupation, which is political, economic and military. 

Q: What are the unique features of the Axis of Resistance? 

A: The unique features of the Axis of Resistance are the cooperation between the various resistance groups; mutual respect between the allies; unlike the U.S., which acts like they own their allies.

Q: The U.S. and its regional allies have been trying to prevent the expansion of the Axis of Resistance. Have their policies been successful?

A: The U.S. and its regional allies have failed to prevent the expansion of the Axis of Resistance, even though they have pumped billions of U.S. dollars to demonize them in the media, and have assassinated several leaders such as General Qassem Soleimani, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Imad Fayez Mughniyeh, and others. For example today the Lebanese Resistance and Palestinian Resistance are stronger than ever before and 'Israel' doesn't dare to launch a war against them.

Q: The Western media is trying to introduce the Axis of Resistance as a kind of expansion of Shiite influence over the region. What do you think?

A: Those claims made by Western media are propaganda. The Palestinian Resistance is made up of Sunni Muslims, and one of the Lebanese Resistance parties and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) are completely secular.  Syria, Iraq, and Iran are populated by highly mixed communities of various religions. 

Q: What effect will the assassination of the resistance leaders have on the future of the resistance movement?

A: The martyrdom of resistance leaders will strengthen, and mobilize the people of the region because resistance in this part of the world is an ideology, and is not based on an individual, but their cause, which the West has failed to comprehend. 

Q: Scholars believe that the U.S. is not a strong ally for Arab monarchs as its power is declining domestically and internationally. For instance, recently, Richard Haas, wrote that the United States is declining and the post-American era has begun. What is your thought?

A: The domestic problems in the U.S. have affected their stand on the world stage.  The support of radical Islam as a tool for 'regime change' and the destruction of other nations has left the U.S. without any moral authority. The rise of Iran, China, and Russia against Western imperialism has created a new world order, which is more balanced. 

Q: How do you assess the normalization process between the Arab countries and Israel?

A: The relationship between several Arab countries and 'Israel' is not new. It is a relationship that goes back decades, but they never announced it publically before, due to the various Arab populations which would refuse to accept it. That is why the U.S. and 'Israel' have been using the Arab oil monies in a propaganda campaign through the media to demonize the resistance for several decades.