
Hachem Safieddine is the face of the Lebanese movement in many political and religious events.
Who will replace the leader of Hezbollah? Hachem Safieddine, a prominent figure in the Lebanese movement, appears to be the potential successor to his cousin Hassan Nasrallah, killed on Friday, September 27 in an Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut (Lebanon).
A distant relative of Hassan Nasrallah, with whom the resemblance is striking, Hachem Safieddine, 64, is a few years his junior. He studied religion in Iran. His son is married to Zeinab, daughter of the powerful Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, killed in 2020 in a US strike in Iraq.
Member of the Shura Council
Hachem Safieddine is one of the most important members of the Shura Council. Like Hassan Nasrallah, he wears the black turban of the Sayyed, the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, to whom he claims to belong. "For several years, there have been rumors that Hashem Safieddine is the most likely candidate to succeed" Hassan Nasrallah, Amal Saad, a Hezbollah expert and lecturer at Cardiff University.
Because among the conditions to be met to take the reins of the movement, one must "be a member of the Shura Council," which includes seven people, and "be a religious figure," explains Amal Saad, assuring that Hashem Safieddine "has "a lot of authority, which makes him the strongest candidate."
Fiery speeches
Unlike Hassan Nasrallah, who has rarely appeared in public since the last war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, his cousin is the face of the movement in many political and religious events. He recently gained attention for his fiery speeches at the funerals of party commanders killed by Israel. "In our resistance, (...) when a commander becomes a martyr, another takes up the banner (...) with strength and determination," he declared at the funeral of Commander Mohammed Neemeh Nasser, killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon.
It is the Shura Council, the party's highest authority, which must elect the successor to the charismatic Hassan Nasrallah, and for that, it "must meet to debate and decide," emphasizes Mohanad Hage Ali, a researcher at Carnegie, to L'Orient-Le Jour(New window). But "it will be very difficult in such a context, with a sword of Damocles now hanging over the heads of party members."