Iran Fully Backs Hizbullah, Urges Israel to Halt Attacks on Lebanon

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has reaffirmed support for the Lebanese group Hizbullah and called for a total and unconditional halt to Israeli attacks on the country. His statement, posted on the social media platform X on Sunday, was a response to a letter of allegiance from Hizbullah’s secretary-general and members of the group. “[The Islamic Republic of Iran] stipulates the safeguarding of Lebanon’s territorial integrity and the absolute and unconditional cessation of aggression by the Zionist regime as prerequisites for agreeing to end this war imposed by the aggressive US,” he said. Khamenei described Hizbullah as standing firm like “an unshakeable rock at the vanguard” of groups resisting Israeli assaults. The Iranian leader stated that nations across the world “are fed up with the tyranny and oppression” of the US and Israeli governments, “which are destroyers of lives and generations.” “There is no way forward but jihad and resistance,” he stressed. According to official Lebanese data, Israeli attacks have killed 4,330 people and injured 12,236 others since 2 March. Previously, Lebanon and Israel signed a US-mediated framework agreement on 26 June. The deal stipulates a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from all occupied Lebanese territories, but does not include a timeline for the pull-out. Instead, the completion of the process is linked to the Lebanese army assuming full security responsibility in vacated areas and the disarmament of non-state groups, including Hizbullah. Meanwhile, Israel continues to occupy parts of southern Lebanon, some of which it has held for decades and others seized during the recent war between October 2023 and November 2024.