Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Muslims on Saturday “to stand with the people of Lebanon and the proud Hezbollah with all the means they have and help them face the wicked regime (of Israel).”
In a statement after the Israeli army said it had killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Khamenei said: “The fate of this region will be determined by the resistance forces, with Hezbollah at the head,” according to state media.
After Hezbollah confirmed Nasrallah’s death, Iranian media reported that General Abbas Nilforoushan, the deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, was killed “next to Nasrallah” in Israeli strikes on south Beirut on Friday.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian partly blamed Nasrallah’s assassination on the United States (U.S.), which has long supplied Israel with advanced weapons.
“The Americans cannot deny their complicity with the Zionists,” Pezeshkian said in a statement shared by state media.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani promised in a post on X that Nasrallah’s “path will continue and his holy goal will be achieved in liberating Jerusalem.”
Meanwhile, two regional officials briefed by Tehran told Reuters that Khamenei had been moved to a safe location inside the country amid heightened security.
The sources said Iran is in constant contact with Lebanon’s Hezbollah and other regional collaborator groups to decide its next step after Nasrallah’s assassination.
