Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has gone into hiding and remains in a secure location inside the country, sources told Reuters.
The decision came in response to Israeli strikes outside Beirut on Friday that killed the leader and founding member of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. Hassan Nasrallah,
Two sources also told Reuters that Iran contacted Hezbollah and other proxy forces in the region to determine what action to take in response to Nasrallah’s killing.
“The fate of the region will be determined by the forces of resistance, with Hezbollah at the forefront,” Khamenei said in a statement on Saturday.
Israeli forces say Hamas chief killed in strike in southern Syria
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks after casting his vote during the presidential election in Tehran on July 5, 2024. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
Declaring five days of public mourning, Khamenei called Nasrallah a “flag bearer of resistance” in the region.
According to Reuters, Khamenei said, “The blood of the martyr will not be avenged.”
Iranian Revolutionary Guards deputy commander Abbas Nilforoshan was also killed in Israeli strikes outside the Lebanese capital, Iranian media reported on Saturday.
Israel has killed several other top Hezbollah commanders in Beirut, particularly in the past two weeks, in addition to the strike that killed Nasrallah.
Thousands of explosives earlier this month Hidden in pagers and walkie-talkies According to Lebanese officials, the blast used by Hezbollah killed at least a dozen people and injured thousands. Israel is widely believed to be behind the attack, but has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility.
Reuters quoted an Iranian security official as revealing that the Revolutionary Guards were carrying out a large-scale operation to inspect all communications equipment.
most equipment were made in Lebanon or imported from China and Russia, the official said, as Iran conducts an intense investigation focused on mid- and high-ranking members of the Revolutionary Guard.
The official told Reuters that Iran was considering the possibility of infiltration by Israeli agents, including Iranians paid by Israel.
A demonstrator holds a portrait of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during an anti-Israel protest in Tehran on September 27, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)
In response to Nasrallah’s death, hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Tehran, waving Hezbollah flags and chanting, “Death to Israel” and, “Death to killer Netanyahu,” the Associated Press reported.
Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian partly blamed the United States for Nasrallah’s assassination, noting that Washington had been providing Israel with weapons.
“Americans cannot deny their complicity with the Zionists,” he said in a statement broadcast by state media, according to Reuters.
Israel targets Hezbollah leader Nasrallah in attack on Beirut headquarters
Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel in support of Gaza on October 8, a day after Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage.
Since then, both sides have engaged in increased cross-border attacks. representative of iran This includes Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, as well as other forces operating in Iraq. The Houthis have been launching missiles at Israel and ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea along the Yemeni coast following the October 7 attacks.
In his first public comments after Nasrallah’s assassination, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s targeting of Nasrallah was “a necessary condition for achieving the goals we have set.”
“He was not just another terrorist. He was a terrorist,” Netanyahu said.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is depicted on a banner next to a ballistic missile in Baharestan Square in Tehran, Iran on September 26, 2024. (Hossein Barris/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
Netanyahu said Nasrallah’s killing would help drive displaced Israelis back to their homes in the north and put pressure on Hamas to free Israeli hostages held in Gaza. But noting the risk of retaliation, he warned that the coming days would bring “significant challenges” and cautioned Iran against trying to attack.
of Iran united nations ambassador Emir Saeed Iravani wrote a letter to the UN and Security Council heads on Saturday calling for an emergency council meeting over the attack that killed Nasrallah.
“Using thousands of pounds of US-supplied bunker busters, Israel killed Nasrallah and Nilforoshan, among others,” he wrote.
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According to the AP, he warned Israel not to attack any of its diplomatic or embassy compounds or its representatives.
“Iran will not hesitate to exercise its inherent rights under international law to take every step in defense of its vital national and security interests,” Iravani wrote.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
