Iranian diplomacy spokesperson, Nasser Kanani. (Credit: AFP)
Iran will not deploy fighters to Lebanon and Gaza to confront its archenemy Israel, the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated Monday, as Israel continues strikes against groups supported by Tehran in the region.
"The governments of Lebanon and Palestine have the capacity and power needed to face the Zionist regime's aggression, and there is no need to deploy auxiliary or volunteer Iranian forces," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani during his weekly press conference.
Israel has carried out several strikes in recent days against Iran-backed allied groups, including the powerful Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed Friday in an Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Punishment for the crimes committed
"We have also not received any requests, and we know they do not need the help of our expeditionary forces," Kanani added Monday.
The Friday strike on Hezbollah's leader in his stronghold in southern Beirut also killed Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan, deputy chief of operations for the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of Iran.
"The usurping Zionist regime will not go without retribution and punishment for the crimes it has committed against the Iranian people, resistance forces (pro-Iranian groups in the region), Iranian citizens, and military personnel," Kanani promised.
On Monday, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian visited Hezbollah's office in Tehran "to pay tribute" to Nasrallah, according to a statement published on the government's website.
The supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, declared that the loss of Nasrallah "would not be in vain," while First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref warned it would lead to the "destruction" of Israel.