This Is The Figure Of Hashem Safieddine, Called The Candidate For New Leader Hezbollah

JAKARTA - After Hezbollah confirmed the killing of their leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of Beirut, speculation about his successor candidate grew stronger.

Citing Anadolu via Antara, a number of sources said, Hashem Safieddine will most likely replace Nasrallah, who has led Hezbollah for 32 years until his death on Friday 27 September.

Safieddine, who is Nasrallah's cousin, served as chairman of the Hezbollah executive council and was widely regarded as his heir.

Born in 1964 in the city of Deir Qanoun En Nahr, Tyre district in southern Lebanon, the cleric who wore the black seorban has been part of the Hezbollah structure since the group was founded in 1982.

In the 1980s, Safieddine went to Qom, Iran, to join Nasrallah in studying religious science.

He has been prepared to replace Nasrallah since 1994, when he was summoned from Qom to Beirut to lead the executive council, which is responsible for the group's political affairs.

For more than three decades, Safieddine has handled various important daily affairs within the group, ranging from managing the Heizbollah institution to supervising the group's finances and investments, both at home and abroad.

Public and political presence

Like Nasrallah, Safieddine is known for its public and political presence, as well as enthusiastic and fluent speeches.

In his speech, he often emphasized his commitment to dealing with and responding to Israel's "aggression".

"If our job, like now, is to be in the south (Lebanon) against this enemy and offer our martyrs, we are ready to sacrifice everything, confident that Allah will give us a win like he did in 2006," he said in a speech on July 13, 2024.

While his other speech on the same month, Safieddine stressed that "Lebanon is involved in the fight against Israel's enemies without restrictions or conditions."

Like Nasrallah, Safieddine has often repeated that Hezbollah will not stop supporting Gaza's front until Israel stops its attack, which has now killed more than 41.000 people since last October.

Close relations with Iran

Safieddine has good relations with Tehran. In addition to spending years studying religious science in Qom, he has a family relationship with former commander of the Iranian Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, namely in 2020, his son Reza married Zeynep, the daughter of the late officer.

In 2017, the US Treasury Department added Safieddine to their counter-terrorism blacklist.