Iran’s supreme leader denied on Sunday that militant groups around the region act as proxies for Tehran, warning that if his country “choose[s]to take action” it would be punished by any means. Will not be required.
The comments come after a year in which Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza suffered heavy losses in the war with Israel, and two weeks after the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a key link to Tehran. Were. Is called the axis of resistance.
Another figure on that axis, Yemen’s Houthi rebels, have been repeatedly targeted by the United States and Britain because of their attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes launched in solidarity with the Palestinians.
“The Islamic Republic has no proxy force. Yemen fights because it has faith. Hezbollah fights because the power of faith draws it into the field. Hamas and (Islamic) Jihad fight because their beliefs compel them to do so. They do not act as our proxies, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a group of visitors in Tehran.
He said, “They (the Americans) keep saying that the Islamic Republic has lost its proxy forces in the region! This is another mistake.” “If one day we want to take action, we don’t need proxy forces,” he said. ,
Earlier this month, Syrian rebels’ rapid advance toward Damascus from their strongholds in the northwest ended the decades-long rule of Assad’s family, an ally of Tehran.
Khamenei predicted “the rise of a strong, respectable group” in Syria, saying that the country’s youth “have nothing to lose.”
“Their universities, schools, homes, streets and lives are insecure; what should they do? They must stand up with strength and determination against those who have planned this insecurity and those who have implemented it, and God forbid If he wants, he can overcome them.”
Assad has long played a strategic role in the axis of anti-Israeli resistance to Iran, particularly in facilitating arms supplies to Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.
The axis of resistance also includes Hamas, the Houthis, and smaller Shia militia groups in Iraq.
All groups are united in their opposition to Israel and its main supporter, the United States.
The supreme leader, who has the final authority on major state policies, also accused the United States of trying to create chaos and unrest in Iran.
He said, “The Iranian nation will crush under its strong feet anyone who accepts America’s mercenary role in this regard.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
