Iran president: Hezbollah can’t battle Israel alone in intensifying conflict

TEHRAN: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that Hezbollah “cannot stand alone” in its standoff with Israel, as Lebanon absorbed nearly 500 casualties, including 35 children, amid the heaviest barrage of airstrikes from Israel in half a decade. Commenting during an interview with CNN, Pezeshkian pointed to the military aid that Hezbollah enjoys from Western powers, including the United States and Europe.

He urged the international community to prevent Lebanon from becoming “another Gaza,” calling the rising level of violence “extremely disturbing.” Israel’s military says it has attacked around 1,600 Hezbollah targets, killing hundreds of fighters.
Pezeshkian called for the UN Security Council to take immediate action against the “barbaric and insane escalation” by Israel. Tehran reiterated its strong solidarity with the people of Lebanon and Palestine. “Iran will NOT stand by and watch,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on Twitter.

Iranian leadership threatened that the move may lead to a bigger war. Most media houses issued warning that a volatile situation was building in the region. Pezeshkian, however said that “Iran has never been a ‘first mover’ in initiating a war but will never allow a threat to its security and territorial integrity to be acted on”. He blamed Israel for wanting such an open-ended situation to cause a total war. “No nation or faction will gain anything out of this war for humanity”.