The Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement has confirmed the assassination of its secretary general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in massive Israeli airstrikes targeting residential buildings in southern Beirut on Friday.
Nasrallah took over Hezbollah in 1992, at the age of 32, after his predecessor Abbas al-Musawi was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon.
Under Nasrallah’s leadership, Hezbollah continued to grow into a powerful political and military force that has fought off three Israeli wars against Lebanon – in 2000 and 2006 as well as the current ongoing conflict.
In Lebanon and across the region, Nasrallah was revered as a charismatic leader and military strategist who had dedicated his life to resistance against Israel and supporting the Palestinian cause.
Earlier on Saturday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said the brutal attacks by the ‘rabid Zionist dog’ on Lebanon revealed the shortsightedness and foolish policies of Israeli officials, calling on all Muslims to unite behind the Lebanese people and Hezbollah.
‘The Zionist criminals need to know that they are far too weak to be able to inflict any significant damage on the solid structure of Lebanon’s Hezbollah. All the resistance forces in the region stand with and support Hezbollah,’ the Leader said in a statement on Saturday.
‘The Lebanese have not forgotten that there was a time when the soldiers of the occupying regime were advancing toward Beirut, and Hezbollah stopped them, and made Lebanon proud. Today too, by the grace and power of God, Lebanon will make the transgressing, malicious enemy regret its actions,’ Ayatollah Khamenei noted.
Before Nasrallah’s assassination, Iranians took to the streets across the country on Friday to voice solidarity with the resistance movements in Lebanon and Palestine in the face of intense Israeli aggression.
In central Tehran, protesters marched from the University of Tehran to Enqelab Square after Friday prayers, chanting slogans praising the resilience of the resistance forces and condemning the savage atrocities committed by the Israeli regime.
A rally statement hailed ‘the steadfastness of the brave fighters of Hezbollah’ and vowed that ‘ultimate victory belongs to the resistance’.
The statement noted that the regime’s attacks on Lebanon clearly demonstrate the malicious intent of the apartheid regime to escalate and expand its aggression in the region.
The statement said: ‘We firmly believe that these blows will not undermine the organisational and human strength of the Resistance front and Hezbollah.
‘The heroic resistance of the unparalleled symbols of honour and freedom, who have stood up in defence of the oppressed people of Gaza, will continue with strength.’
The statement warned the United Nations and other international bodies that as long as the colonial entity continues the massacre of innocent people amid global silence, humanity will not see peace.
It called for global action to rein in the Israeli regime and prepare the ground for a permanent ceasefire while restoring Palestinians’ right to self-determination.
The statement emphasised that the inaction of the UN Security Council and other bodies has proven that they practically serve the interests of arrogant powers.
It called on free and independent governments and nations around the world, particularly in the Arab and Muslim world, to stand up against oppression and not abandon Lebanon and Gaza.
It also vowed that marchers are ready to offer any kind of assistance to Gaza and Lebanon, continuing their support until Palestinian lands are fully liberated.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi considers the US’s pro-Israeli policy to be behind the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)’s failure to condemn the regime’s deadly aggression against Lebanon.
The top diplomat made the remarks to Iranian reporters during a recent emergency meeting on Friday in New York on the sidelines of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly.
He said: ‘Unfortunately, due to the United States’ policy of preventing such meetings from reaching a conclusion, the Security Council still failed to make a decision at this meeting too.’
The Israeli regime escalated its attacks against Lebanon following the launch of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip on 7th October.
The meeting came after the Israeli escalation took a deadlier turn, killing more than 700 civilians since Monday.
It, however, failed to condemn the bloodletting through even a press statement amid the United States’ continued unconditional political support for the regime.
As part of the support, Washington has traditionally used its veto power and influence as a permanent UNSC member to prevent the council from either holding the regime accountable or taking it to task for its atrocities.
The meeting, however, provided an opportunity for countries like Iran and Lebanon itself as well as Syria and Iraq to denounce the Israeli aggression, Araghchi added.
In his remarks, he also commented on an earlier meeting between him and his counterparts from the member states of the BRICS group of emerging economic powers.
‘The role played by the BRICS should expand further across the international arena and the organisation should turn into a hub, especially in economic matters,’ he said, noting that all of the body’s members were willing to contribute to realisation of the prospect.
‘There are several countries that are willing to join the BRICS, and this shows that the organisation is finding its place in the new world order.’
BRICS was formed by and initially consisted of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, which collectively represent around 40 per cent of the global population and a quarter of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Iran became an official member of the BRICS at the beginning of this year alongside Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.
Other countries that have either applied for or expressed interest in becoming a member of the body include Algeria, Nigeria, Tunisia, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
Meanwhile, Chief Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami says the people of Palestine will soon embrace an ‘amazing victory’.
‘The resilient and amazing people of Gaza have shown that by relying on the power of faith, the enemy can be isolated and that faith will never fail in the face of an enemy that has lost its dignity,’ Salami said on Thursday.
He said the presence of the Islamic Revolution in every part of the world has shifted the balance of power and led to a victory.
The IRGC chief hailed the power of faith of the Palestinian people in Gaza, saying they have proved that the enemy will suffer a defeat when it uses all its advanced equipment and wages a war against a defenceless but faithful nation living in a blockaded territory.
The enemy is portraying the killing of children as a sign of its victory but it is isolated and has lost its dignity, he noted, emphasising, ‘Faith will never fail.’
Pointing to Israel’s recent crimes in Lebanon, Salami said the brave and strong Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah is fighting the enemy at the points of contact.
He said Hezbollah wins a glory on a daily basis and will achieve a final victory this time just like previous wars with Israel and will ‘add another disappointment’ to the enemies’ plans.
If the United States, Britain, France and all their allies unite, they will never be able to achieve success in the face of Hezbollah’s will in the eastern Mediterranean, the top IRGC commander said, adding: ‘They are doomed to failure, God willing.’
Salami’s remarks came amid the latest escalation of violence between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has raised the risk of a greater regional war.
Israel has been conducting near-daily attacks against southern Lebanon since 7th October, when it launched its campaign of genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah has been responding with strikes aimed both at retaliating against the regime and supporting the war-hit Gazans. It has vowed to defend the Lebanese soil with all its resources.
Two Israeli wars waged against Lebanon in 2000 and 2006 were met with strong resistance from Hezbollah, resulting in the retreat of the regime in both conflicts.
Elsewhere, a high-profile Yemeni military official says the country’s naval units have launched their largest-ever attack on United States Navy warships in the Red Sea, demonstrating their solid support for Palestinian and Lebanese nations amid the relentless Israeli aggression and in retaliation for the US-British attacks on the Arab country.
Brigadier General Yahya Saree, spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, stated on Friday that the Yemeni military had carried out the operation against three American destroyers as they were heading towards the occupied territories to support the Israeli enemy.
He added that the large-scale maritime operation involved naval, air defence and missile forces of the Yemeni army, and was carried out with 23 ballistic and winged missiles besides kamikaze drones.
Saree underscored that the operation resulted in a direct hit against the three destroyers.
The senior Yemeni military figure said the missile attack was the largest of its kind in the course of anti-Israeli maritime operations, and also came in reprisal of joint US-British strikes on the Arab country.
Saree further noted that Yemeni armed forces are prepared to conduct more qualitative military operations in support of Palestinians and Lebanese resistance fighters, who are courageously confronting the US-backed Israeli aggression in defence of the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
He said his country’s military will continue its anti-Israel operations until the Tel Aviv regime halts its onslaught against Gaza and eases restrictions on supplies of humanitarian aid for its Palestinian population.
Yemenis have declared their open support for Palestine’s struggle against the Israeli occupation since the regime launched it war on Gaza.
The Yemeni Armed Forces have said they will not stop their attacks until unrelenting Israeli ground and aerial offensives in Gaza end.