'A handful of agents in the pay of the United States and Israel': Hezbollah denounces protests in Iran

BEIRUT — Hezbollah issued a statement on Tuesday praising pro-government demonstrations held in Iran yesterday and denouncing what it called an attempt at American interference in Iran’s internal affairs.

Iranian state media reported that tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators had rallied in Tehran as the Iranian regime sought to downplay the massive nationwide protest movement that began on Dec. 28 in response to increasingly dire economic conditions in the country.

Hezbollah said that the pro-regime gatherings reflected "the true orientation of the Iranian people, united around the leadership of the Islamic Republic, headed by Imam and Guide Ali Khamenei."

The statement criticized the anti-regime demonstrations, claiming that the "protesters lack any real popular representation," and describing them as "a handful of agents" on an American and Israeli payroll.

"Agents of the United States and Israel are infiltrating some small demonstrations to turn them into acts of vandalism and chaos," the statement alleged.

Hezbollah also accused the U.S. of trying to destabilize Iran from within, claiming that the country has been the target of "a global aggression sponsored by the United States" since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

"The United States insists on sabotaging Iran by using the Zionist entity as a tool of crime, murder, and chaos, with the goal of toppling the popular Iranian regime," Hezbollah accused.

The party went on to claim that "the 12-day aggression against Iran [in June 2025] aimed at toppling the Islamic Republic has failed and ended in resounding failure."

The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) reported on Tuesday that at least 734 protesters have been killed in Iran since the start of the demonstrations against the government, and stated that the actual death toll could be in the thousands.

IHR "continues to receive reports of thousands of deaths in various cities and provinces across Iran," the organization said.

Also on Tuesday, an anonymous Iranian source told the New York Times that the death toll from the crackdown on these protests exceeds 3,000, and CBS and the Saudi-owned Iran International site both reported a death toll of at least 12,000.