Iranian president says Lebanon strikes are an Israeli ‘trap’ to draw Tehran into war
Iran’s foreign minister vows his country ‘will NOT remain indifferent’ as Israel, under constant rocket fire, launches heavy strikes on Hezbollah sites across Lebanon
Iran’s president accused Israel on Monday of seeking a wider war in the Middle East and laying “traps” to lead his country into a wider conflict.
Masoud Pezeshkian told about two dozen media representatives that Iran does not want to see the current war in Gaza and airstrikes across the Israeli-Lebanon border expanded, saying that while Israel insists it does not want a wider war, it is taking actions that show otherwise.
Pezeshkian pointed to the deadly explosions of pagers, walkie-talkies and other electronic devices in Lebanon last week, which he blamed on Israel, and the assassination of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on the eve of his inauguration.
“They are dragging us to a point where we do not wish to go,” the Iranian leader said of Israel. “There is no winner in warfare. We are only fooling ourselves” if we believe that.
Since October 8, 2023, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon has attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the countries’ shared border on a near-daily basis, and Israel has responded with airstrikes.
On Monday, widespread Israeli airstrikes targeting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon killed at least 492 people Monday and injured 1,645 more, Beirut said, as Israel cautioned that strikes against the group would expand and Lebanese civilians were warned to flee areas where the Iran-backed terror group was thought to be hiding weapons.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah fired volley after volley of rocket at Israel, setting off sirens deep into northern Israel and as far south as some West Bank settlements near Tel Aviv. The previous day, the terror group bombarded northern communities with at least 150 rockets in one of its heaviest barrages since fighting broke out on October 8 last year.
Speaking to journalists in New York, Iran’s Pezeshkian alluded to appeals from the West for Iran not to retaliate so as not to jeopardize US efforts for a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which began when the terror group attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.
“We tried to not respond. They kept telling us we are within reach of peace, perhaps in a week or so,” he said. “But we never reached that elusive peace. Every day, Israel is committing more atrocities and killing more and more people — old, young, men, women, children, hospitals, other facilities.”
Israel says it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
Pezeshkian did not reply directly when asked if Iran would now respond more directly to Israel.
“We always keep hearing, well, Hezbollah fired a rocket. If Hezbollah didn’t even do that minimum, who would defend them?” he said. “Curiously enough, we keep being labeled as the perpetrator of insecurity. But look at the situation for where it is.”
In April, Iran launched an unprecedented missile-and-drone attack against Israel after the assassination of several Iranian generals in Syria. The Islamic Republic fired some 300 projectiles from Iran, almost all of which were intercepted. Apart from that attack, however, Tehran has preferred to target Israel via proxy groups throughout the region.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani also condemned the Israeli strikes against Lebanon on Monday, warning, “There will be dangerous consequences to the new adventure of the Zionists.”
The country’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, shared photos on X that had been circulating on social media and were said to be from Lebanon, showing what appeared to be an ambulance up in flames, and a wounded elderly woman.
“Israel’s crimes, enabled by the US, are crystal clear for the world to witness. Do not look away. This brutal and criminal disregard for human life cannot be permitted to continue. Iran will NOT remain indifferent. We stand with the people of Lebanon and Palestine,” he said.
In a video posted online, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the Lebanese people to take Israel’s evacuation warnings seriously and said they will be able to return home after the fighting is over.
Imad Kreidieh, head of Lebanese telecoms company Ogero, told Reuters on Monday that more than 80,000 automated calls asking people to evacuate their areas were detected on the network. Not all were answered.
Lebanon’s information minister Ziad Makary said his ministry had received a call ordering the building to evacuate, but said the ministry would do no such thing. “This is a psychological war,” Makary told Reuters.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s foreign ministry called Monday on “international powers and the United Nations Security Council to intervene immediately” to stop “the dangerous Israeli escalation in Lebanon.”
Cairo, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, has repeatedly warned against Israeli regional escalation, which it said Monday “threatens to drag the region into a comprehensive regional war.” Egypt again expressed “solidarity” with Lebanon and affirmed its “total rejection of any violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty and territory.”
Turkey’s foreign ministry said, “Israel’s attacks on Lebanon mark a new phase in its efforts to drag the entire region into chaos, and also urged the international community to intervene.
“It is imperative that all institutions responsible for maintaining international peace and security, especially the United Nations Security Council, as well as the international community, take the necessary measures without delay,” the foreign ministry said.
As of Monday morning, Hezbollah had named 506 members killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. Another 79 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians were also said to have been killed.
Israel has suffered 26 civilian deaths, along with 22 IDF soldiers reservists killed in Hezbollah-led rocket, missile and drone attacks.
Emanuel Fabian and Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
