Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated his condemnation of the assassination of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General and historic leader of Hezbollah and vowed that Iran will “decisively respond” to crimes committed by Israel’s Zionist regime.
Pezeshkian asserted that “the crime [of assassinating Nasrallah] once again proved that this criminal regime does not adhere to any of the international principles and rules” Pezeshkian said while addressing a cabinet meeting on Sunday, ISNA reported.
Pezeshkian made the comments days after Israel assassinated Nasrallah using US supplied ammunition bombing residential buildings in Beirut on Friday. Scores of other civilians were killed and hundreds others were injured in the attack.
Israel assassinated Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of Palestinian resistance group Hamas, in July when he was a state guest in Iran’s capital. Israel has also killed scores of officials of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards’ Corp (IRGC) in airstrikes on Syria since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
On April 1, Israel launched airstrikes on the Iranian consulate in Damascus and killed seven IRGC officials were killed. In response, on April 13, Iran launched scores of missiles against various targets in Israel. Iran promised to punish Israel’s violation of Iranian sovereignty after Haniyeh’s killing as well.
However, Pezeshkian said on Saturday that Iran’s response to Haniyeh’s assassination was delayed because it wanted to support the efforts of peace in Palestine. He claimed that the US and its allies had assured Iran that if it desists from responding to Israeli crime there will be a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Claims by the leaders of the US and European countries who were promising a ceasefire [Gaza] in exchange for Iran not to respond to the assassination of Haniyeh were all lies,” Pezeshkian said, Tehran Times reported.
Reiterating the claims made by other Iranian leaders, Nasser Kanaani, spokesperson of Iran’s Ministry Of Foreign Affairs said on Monday that his country has been patiently trying to prevent the escalation of war in Gaza by showing restraint to the Israeli provocations.
It must be clear that “Iran will carry out its proportionate and decisive measures” against all kinds of aggressions and will not hesitate to support its regional allies whenever necessary, Kanaani reiterated.
The US is directly responsible for all Israeli crimes
Pezeshkian has maintained that the US is directly responsible for the assassination of Nasrallah and all other crimes Israel has been committing in Gaza and Lebanon. He has claimed that the orders to assassinate Nasrallah came from New York when Netanyahu was there to attend the UN General Assembly session and it is likely that the US approved the move.
The US has not only welcomed the assassination of Nasrallah calling him a “terrorist” but also ensured greater support to Israel in case there is any regional move to retaliate against it. This comes in addition to diplomatic, financial, and military support the Joe Biden administration has been providing Israel since the beginning of the war a year earlier.
The US has been supplying billions of dollars worth of weapons to Israel and has been carrying out attacks against regional resistance forces such as Ansar Allah movement in Yemen and Islamic resistance forces in Iraq since the beginning of its war in Gaza.
Ansar Allah and Islamic resistance forces along with Hezbollah have been carrying out attacks against Israel and its allies in solidarity with the Palestinian people since the beginning of the Israeli war in Gaza.
On Thursday, days after Israel escalated its war and launched massive attacks in Lebanon killing over a thousand more people, the US government approved USD 8.7 billion in fresh military aid to Israel.
Criticizing the US for calling Nasrallah a terrorist Pezeshkian told Lebanese Al-Manar Tv on Monday that, “the arrogant call terrorists and murderers saviors, and people who support humanity and oppressed as terrorists.”
Pezeshkian denied that assassination of individual leaders would kill a resistance movement, claiming that such attacks strengthen the movement as there are dozens of others who are ready to fight against oppression.
