Hezbollah flags waved by supporters during Hassan Nasrallah's funeral in Beirut. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient Today.)
BEIRUT — Hezbollah denounced in a statement the "stupid and reckless" death threats from Israel and the United States targeting Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, warning that they could have "disastrous consequences."
Praising the stature of Ayatollah Khamenei in Iran and the Muslim world, Hezbollah deemed the death threat as "stupid and reckless, with disastrous consequences." "Despite its absurdity and the low level of the person who utters it, the mere fact of voicing this threat is an offense to hundreds of millions of believers, and people connected to Islam and resistance."
Hezbollah determined to rally behind Iran
These threats are "condemned in the strongest terms," adds the statement. The party-militia further stated it is "more determined than ever to adhere to Imam Khamenei's approach and to rally more around his positions and his confrontation against Israeli-American aggression" towards Iran.
On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stated he would strike '"the Iranian dictator wherever' he is found. Killing Khamenei would "end the conflict" between Israel and Iran, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Reuters previously reported that, according to two U.S. officials, Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate the Iranian Supreme Leader, an information Benjamin Netanyahu refused to comment on.
Hezbollah has not involved itself directly in the conflict between Israel and its patron Iran. Following Israeli airstrikes on the night of June 12-13 that decimated part of Iran's military command and launched the war, Hezbollah expressed support for the Tehran regime but indicated it had no intention to independently launch attacks against Israel. This stance was taken after pressure from Lebanese authorities.
On Oct. 8, 2023, the day after Hamas's attack on Israel and the start of Israel's deadly offensive on Gaza, Hezbollah unilaterally decided to open a "support front" for the Palestinian movement, which triggered 13 months of war, including two marked by a very violent Israeli escalation. Since then, Israeli strikes have killed over 4,000 people in Lebanon and devastated entire villages and neighborhoods, especially in the South, the Bekaa, and the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah is predominant.