Iran reacts to killing of Nasrallah and its own military advisor in Lebanon

On Saturday, September 28, the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission held a closed session regarding the developments in Lebanon. The center of focus was the Israeli assassination of Hezbollah chief, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in Beirut. During the session, the Iranian lawmakers discussed various developments in the region.

Iran’s diplomatic response

Iran’s Vice President for Strategic Affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has said the Islamic Republic will respond to the Israeli assassination of Nasrallah at the “appropriate time”.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony held in honor of Nasrallah on Sunday, Zarif said he personally knew the martyred Hezbollah chief for over three decades, and described him as a symbol of “bravery, honesty and tactfulness”.

Zarif noted that Nasrallah, along with other senior Hezbollah leaders, delivered the first significant defeat to the Israeli forces in 2000, compelling them to withdraw from southern Lebanon ”in humiliation and without conditions”.

The Iranian Foreign Minister, Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, said Sunday that Tehran will respond to the Zionist Israeli regime for the assassination of senior Iranian military advisor General Abbas Nilforoushan.

Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan, a veteran commander and military advisor in Lebanon, was killed in a “terrorist attack” carried out by the Israeli regime. In reaction to his martyrdom, foreign minister Araghchi said that “This heinous and cowardly act is another clear sign of the terrorist and criminal nature of the Zionist regime and its its backers. This horrible crime of the aggressor Zionist regime will never go unanswered.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry will employ all its political, diplomatic, legal and international potential to prosecute criminals and their supporters.

Seyyed Abbas Araghchi

In an interview for CNN, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said that ”There is a risk that the fire from ongoing events will engulf the whole region and result in other consequences. Israel must be stopped and forced not to commit such wrongdoings”.

IRGC statements

Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi, former commander of Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, has reiterated on Sunday that the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has replaced all commanders and senior officials within its ranks who were martyred in recent days as a result of Israeli aggression on Lebanon.

As an informed source, I insist that there is no empty place in Hezbollah’s leadership structure and all martyred commanders have been replaced by other commanders.

Ahmad Vahidi

He also dismissed as “silly” the notion that the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah had lost its strategic weapons because of Israeli regime’s continued attacks. The general said Hezbollah’s arsenal of strategic weapons has remained untouched by Israel’s recent attacks on the group and its leadership. 

He described such reports as “psychological warfare tactics” used by Israel, adding that the regime will experience new conditions in the future once Hezbollah uses its strategic weapons.

Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani, the IRGC Quds Force commander has offered condolences over Hassan Nasrallah assassination, vowing that Iranians will support Hezbollah until conquest of Palestine and liberation of Quds.

General Gha’ani offered condolences on the martyrdom of the former Secretary General of Lebanese Hezbollah Resistance movement during a visit to Hezbollah office in Tehran on Sunday.

In remarks during the visit, the IRGC Quds Force commander, hailed the leadership of Hassan Nasrallah over Hezbollah which lasted more that three decades, saying that Nasrallah enhanced the organization’s position to its apex. 

He noted that with Nasrallah at the helm of Hezbollah they achieved victories in fighting ISIL/ISIS. Gen. Gha’ani also declared that Iran will stand by Hezbollah in the continuation of Nasrallah’s path and school until the conquest of Palestine and the liberation of Holy Quds.

Nasrallah was martyred in a massive wave of Israeli airstrikes on a group of residential buildings in southern Beirut on Friday amid heightened tensions between the Lebanese resistance movement and the Israeli regime over the war on Gaza.