Lebanese soldiers deployed outside the site of the Israeli airstrike that targeted Hezbollah military chief Haytham Ali Tabataba'i on Nov. 23, 2025. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient-Le Jour)
Iran on Monday slammed Israel over its killing of Hezbollah's military chief, a day after the commander was targeted with a strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
"The Iranian Foreign Ministry strongly condemns the cowardly assassination of the great commander of the Lebanese Islamic Resistance, the martyr Haytham Ali Tabataba'i," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Tabataba'i is the most senior Hezbollah commander to be killed by Israel since the start of a cease-fire in November 2024 that sought to end more than a year of hostilities.
The killing "constitutes a flagrant violation of the November 2024 cease-fire and a brutal breach of Lebanon’s national sovereignty," the Ministry said.
Hezbollah earlier confirmed the killing of "the great commander" Tabataba'i.
Largely unknown to the Lebanese public, Tabataba'i was among the new commanders chosen to lead the group after the war.
Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon since the truce, mostly claiming to be targeting Hezbollah members and infrastructure.
Tehran is Hezbollah's key backer, but the group has been severely weakened by its most recent hostilities with Israel and the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, who provided an overland link to Iran.
That has come as a blow to Iran itself, which was also hit by Israeli and U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities during a 12-day war with Israel this year.
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