Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that its ally Hezbollah “cannot stand alone” against Israel which carried out its deadliest day of airstrikes on Lebanon since 2006.
“Hebzollah cannot stand alone against a country that is being defended and supported and supplied by Western countries, by European countries and the United States,” Pezeshkian said in an interview with CNN translated from Farsi to English.
He called on the international community to “not allow Lebanon to become another Gaza,” in response to a question if Iran would use its influence with Hezbollah to urge restraint.
On Monday, nearly 500 people, including 35 children, were killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, according to the country’s health ministry.
The Israeli military said it hit about 1,600 Hezbollah targets on Monday, killing a “large number” of militants, and carried out more on Tuesday morning.
‘Take Immediate Action’
Iran called on the UN Security Council to “take immediate action” against the “insane” Israeli escalation.
“Iran will NOT remain indifferent,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X late on Monday.
“We stand with the people of Lebanon and Palestine.”
The Israeli strikes came less than a week after coordinated sabotage attacks targeting Hezbollah’s communication devices killed 39 people and wounded almost 3,000.
Iranian media blamed Israel for the apparent slide towards all-out war.
“The Zionist regime has pressed the all-out war button,” said the ultraconservative Javan newspaper, while its rival Kayhan asked, “Has the big war begun?”
Iran Daily warned that “the region is on the verge of a massive explosion.” Reformist newspaper Etemad said that “peace in Lebanon is hanging by a thread.”
Pezeshkian, who has been in New York for the annual UN General Assembly, accused Israel of warmongering.
“We know better than anyone that if a larger war erupts in the Middle East, it will benefit no one globally,” Pezeshkian told journalists at a roundtable.
“It is Israel that seeks to create this wider conflict.”
He said Iran had “never started a war in the last 100 years” and was “not looking to cause insecurity.”
But he insisted that Iran “will never allow a country to force us into something and threaten our security and territorial integrity.”
‘We Will Defend Ourselves’
In an interview with NBC News on Monday, Iran’s Vice President for Strategic Affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, echoed Pezeshkian’s comments and said his government was ready to work with other countries to end the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
“We want to evolve in a more peaceful and stable world for our citizens and for citizens around the world. We do not seek war, but we will defend ourselves,” said the vice President.
Zarif also said that Iran had the right to retaliate against what he described as a clear violation of Iran’s sovereignty, when Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in the capital, Tehran, in July.
Iran accused Israel of orchestrating the attack, which Israel has not publicly confirmed.
When he was foreign minister, Zarif played a leading role in negotiating the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
This agreement imposed strict limits on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for an easing of US and international sanctions.
With AFP
