Iran’s Khamenei said to convene emergency meeting after strike targeting Nasrallah
As Tehran lambastes Israeli ‘war crime’ in Beirut, top adviser to supreme leader says: ‘With the assassination of resistance leaders, others will take their place’
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called an emergency session of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council at his home Friday, The New York Times reported, citing two Iranian officials with knowledge of the meeting.
The officials said the meeting was called following the Israeli strikes on Hezbollah headquarters in southern Beirut which apparently targeted the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned the strikes as a “flagrant war crime” that “has revealed once again the nature of this regime’s state terrorism.”
Ali Larijani, adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, said Israel “is crossing Tehran’s red lines, and the situation is becoming serious.”
“Assassinations will not solve Israel’s problem… With the assassination of resistance leaders, others will take their place,” Larijani told Iran’s state TV, amid speculation that Nasrallah had been killed.
“The resistance has strong commanders and cadres, and every commander who is martyred will have a replacement,” he said. “With the assassination of the resistance leaders, other people will replace them. Israel’s problem is not solved by terror. Rather, the people of Lebanon are becoming more determined to confront the Zionists.”
Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement after the strikes that it was “a war crime” for which Israel and US should be held accountable.
The Iranian embassy in Lebanon condemned the Israeli strikes, warning of a “dangerous escalation” in the Middle East.
“This reprehensible crime… represents a dangerous escalation that changes the rules of the game,” the Iranian embassy said in a post on X, adding that Israel “will receive the appropriate punishment.”
Hamas also panned the strikes, condemning “the brutal and ongoing Zionist aggression and escalation against the brotherly Lebanese people through savage air strikes” including Friday’s attack that targeted “residential buildings.”
The attack shook the Lebanese capital and sent thick clouds of smoke over the city. There were reports of many casualties in the multiple strikes.
Unconfirmed Hebrew media reports said Nasrallah was targeted, leading to widespread speculation and conflicting reports as to his fate. The New York Times quoted multiple Israeli and US officials saying Nasrallah was targeted.
A source close to Hezbollah said the Israeli strikes flattened six buildings. It was the heaviest attack in Beirut in almost a year of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.
A Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah’s top officials are usually gathered at the site that was targeted.
Israel has eliminated much of the Hezbollah terror group’s most senior leadership in recent weeks.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalated sharply this week, with Israeli airstrikes on the terror group killing more than 700 people in Lebanon. The figure does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Israel says many of the dead are Hezbollah fighters.
The escalation has raised fears of an even more destructive conflict between Israel and Iran’s regional proxies.
