TEHRAN: Iran’s president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday reaffirmed the Islamic republic’s support for Lebanon’s Hezbollah group and condemned Israel’s actions against Palestinians.
The statement, issued to Hezbollah’s chief Hassan Nasrallah on the IRNA official news agency, was one of the first foreign policy comments from Pezeshkian since his victory in Friday’s presidential election runoff.
Tehran provides financial and military support to Hezbollah, which was created at the initiative of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards after arch-foe Israel overran Beirut in 1982 during Lebanon’s civil war.
In a reference to Hezbollah and allied groups, Pezeshkian said: “The support of the resistance is rooted in the fundamental policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
He said he was confident the “resistance movement” would stop its arch-foe Israel’s “warmongering and criminal policies” in Gaza, where Israel has for nine months been at war with Hezbollah’s Palestinian ally, Hamas.
Since the war in Gaza began, Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged near-daily fire over Lebanon’s border, triggering global alarm about the potential for all-out war as fighting escalates.
Earlier Monday, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said Tehran “will not hesitate to support the Lebanese nation” and Israel “must be aware of the consequences of any adventurous action in the region, especially toward Lebanon.”
Reformist Pezeshkian defeated ultraconservative Saeed Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator, in the election which was brought forward after the death of president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.
After the vote, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the election result was a “clear message of demand for change and opposition” from the Iranian people.
On Saturday Nasrallah congratulated Pezeshkian on his election victory and emphasized Tehran’s role as a “strong” supporter of regional “resistance” groups.
The Shiite Muslim movement is a key part of the Axis of Resistance — an alliance of pro-Iran armed movements that oppose Israel and the United States.
The alliance also includes Yemen’s Houthi rebels and fighters in Iraq, as well as Hamas.
Iran president-elect reiterates support for Hezbollah
https://arab.news/p4dsb
Iran president-elect reiterates support for Hezbollah
- “The support of the resistance is rooted in the fundamental policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Pezeshkian says
First responders enter devastated Aleppo neighborhood after days of deadly fighting
- The US-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Daesh group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria’s national army
ALEPPO, Syria: First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.
The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.
The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.
The US-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Daesh group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria’s national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”
The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.
Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid Al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.
The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.
On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.
Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.
“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”
Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.
Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.
“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.
