Syrian President Bashar al-Assad waving to an admiring crowd. Photo: Syrianpresidency Instagram account.

A Hezbollah official has said that if it weren’t for his organization’s intervention in the Syrian war, the regime of President Bashar al -Assad would have “collapsed in two hours,” Naharnet reported Thursday, citing The Times of London.

The official said that a victory by  the “revolutionaries is not acceptable, because [Hezbollah] would have become surrounded by enemies.”

Also on Thursday, Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah appeared in public for the second time in as many days, stating in a speech that his terror organization will remain in Syria for the long haul, Reuters reported.

“As long as the reasons (to fight in Syria) remain, our presence there will remain,” Nasrallah said in a speech in front of tens of thousands of Lebanese Shi’ites marking the religious ceremony of Ashoura, in southern Beirut.

Responding to Nasrallah’s comments, former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri lambasted the Hezbollah leader, saying he was putting Lebanon in danger.

“Hezbollah chose to sacrifice Lebanon’s sovereignty, dignity, and national unity for the sake of Bashar al-Assad and to execute the decision of the Iranian leadership to protect this regime,” he said in a statement, responding to Nasrallah’s speech. “It is a choice that history will curse.”