An Iranian holds up a photograph of assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Tehran on Sept. 27. (Credit: AFP)
Almost all of Hezbollah's regional allies were quick to pay tribute to its leader Hassan Nasrallah, following the Shiite party's official statement early Saturday afternoon announcing his "martyrdom." The leader of the Shiite party, adulated by some and hated by others in the Middle East, was killed on Friday evening by Israel in a devastating raid on the southern suburbs of Beirut, where the Israeli army claimed to have struck the movement's headquarters. While rumors of his death circulated in the wake of the strike — the Israeli army confirmed it on Saturday morning — the Lebanese group announced shortly afterwards that "the master of resistance" Hassan Nasrallah "has risen to the side of his Lord as a great martyr."
Shortly before 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that Tel Aviv "cannot damage Hezbollah's solid infrastructure in Lebanon." The fate of the region "will be determined by the forces of the resistance, with Hezbollah in the front line," he added, as some Lebanese and regional nationals accused the Islamic Republic in recent hours of failing in its duty to protect its ally. For his part, the reformist president, Massoud Pezeshkian, later asserted that the U.S. "cannot deny its complicity" in the assassination of the pro-Iranian party's leader, according to state media. Following confirmation of the leader's assassination, Iran declared five days of national mourning.
Shots fired by pro-Iranian Iraqi militias and Houthis
Hamas, Hezbollah's ally in the Tehran-led "Axis of Resistance," was quick to offer its condolences to the Shiite group in a statement, condemning "the Israeli attack on residential buildings in Haret Hreik" as a "terrorist act and massacre." It warned, “The Zionist occupation will have to bear responsibility for the dangerous repercussions of this crime on the security and stability of the region." In recent months, the Islamist movement at the helm in Gaza has repeatedly hailed the "support front" opened by Hezbollah against Israel on Oct. 8, in solidarity with the Palestinian enclave. Behind the scenes, however, it has expressed frustration at the timid action taken by the Lebanese group and the Islamic Republic against Israel, when it seemed to be banking on the unity of the fronts.
Another supporter who expressed solidarity with Hezbollah was the Iraqi Prime Minister, who is close to the pro-Tehran Shiite umbrella organization. He considered that Israel had crossed "all red lines" by killing Nasrallah, and announced three days of mourning in the country. The Houthi rebels in Yemen, who in recent weeks had stepped up their strikes against Israel, for their part asserted in a statement that “the resistance will not be broken, and the jihadist spirit of the Mujahideen brothers in Lebanon and on all supporting fronts will strengthen and grow." Since the beginning of the week, pro-Iranian Iraqi militias and the Yemeni group have claimed responsibility for several shots fired at Israel in support of Gaza and Lebanon, most of which were intercepted.
Revealing silence from the Gulf states
For its part, the Assad regime, which Hezbollah helped to quell the Syrian popular uprising back in 2011, only reacted after several hours, a sign of the embarrassment of power in Damascus, which has wanted to stay out of the Gaza war since Oct. 7. The country's authorities decreed a three-day national mourning and the lowering of flags to half-mast following the "martyrdom" of the Shiite party leader, as announced in a belated statement, while a jubilant crowd celebrated since the previous day's rumors in the streets of Idlib, in the opposition-held areas to the northwest. Finally, even though he does not fall within the orbit of the "Axis of Resistance," Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan, who for almost a year has been hardening his tone against Israel with which his country had previously normalized relations, denounced a situation in which Lebanon has become "the new target of Israel's policy of genocide, occupation and invasion."
In contrast to these reactions, the silence of the Gulf states did not go unnoticed. By early evening on Saturday, neither Saudi Arabia nor the United Arab Emirates, let alone Qatar, had issued a statement. Despite appearances — Riyadh signed a normalization agreement with Iran in March 2023 — these Gulf powers are seeking to reduce Tehran's influence in the region through its network of proxies. While they are no doubt discreetly delighted by the news, these countries are also trying to reclaim the Palestinian cause. On Friday, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Saudi Arabia announced an "international alliance" bringing together Arab, Muslim and European countries to work towards the establishment of a Palestinian state. This was a way for the Saudi kingdom to show greater support for the issue, at a time when it seemed on the verge of signing a normalization agreement with Israel before Oct. 7, joining the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, signatories of the Abraham Accords in 2020.
This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour.
