Iran’s newly-elected President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday reaffirmed the Islamic Republic’s support for Lebanon’s Hezbollah group and condemned Israel’s actions against Palestinians.
The statement, attributed to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on the official news agency IRNA, was one of the first foreign policy comments from Pezeshkian since his victory in Friday’s presidential election.
Tehran provides financial and military support to Hezbollah, which was created at the initiative of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards after arch-enemy Israel occupied Beirut during Lebanon’s civil war in 1982.
Referring to Hezbollah and allied groups, Pezeshkian said: “Support to the resistance is rooted in the fundamental policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
He said he was confident the “resistance movement” would stop the “warmongering and criminal policies” of its arch enemy Israel in Gaza, where Israel has been at war with Hezbollah’s Palestinian ally Hamas for the past nine months.
Since the war in Gaza began, there has been almost daily exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Israel across the Lebanese border, raising global concerns about the possibility of a full-blown war if the fighting escalates.
Earlier on Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said Tehran “will not hesitate to support the Lebanese nation” and that Israel “should be aware of the consequences of any adventurous action in the region, especially towards Lebanon.”
Reformist Pezeshkian defeated former nuclear negotiator and ultra-conservative Saeed Jalili in the election, which was held after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.
After the vote, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the election results were a “clear message from the Iranian people demanding change and protest.”
On Saturday, Nasrallah congratulated Pezeshkian on his election victory and stressed Tehran’s role as a “strong” supporter of regional “resistance” groups.
The Shia Muslim movement is a key part of the Axis of Resistance – a coalition of pro-Iran armed movements that oppose Israel and the United States.
The coalition includes Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Iraqi fighters as well as Hamas.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
