Hezbollah supporters back Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem, who delivers a televised speech during a rally in solidarity with Iran and Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on January 26, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir FILE PHOTO: People gesture as Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem gives a televised address, during a rally in solidarity with Iran and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon January 26, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
BEIRUT — Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem on Wednesday hailed the election of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s new supreme leader, following the assassination of his father, Ali Khamenei, on Feb. 28 in Israeli-American airstrikes on his Tehran residence.
“We received with great satisfaction and pride the news of your election by the Assembly of Experts of the Islamic Republic of Iran as leader and guide, a blessed and faithful successor to preserve the path of Imam Ruhollah Khomeini,” Qassem said. “The martyred leader Ali Khamenei dedicated his life, his blood and the blood of loyal martyrs to protect it, strengthen Iran’s independence and uphold its authentic Islamic identity.”
Qassem described this path as grounded in “trust in God, the presence of the faithful and courageous Iranian people, and the capacity to achieve progress, develop the country’s capabilities, and offer a just Islamic political model in resolving crises, while bravely confronting injustice, aggression and conspiracies.”
He expressed hope that the new leadership “will continue the revolutionary Islamic path — ideologically, politically, morally, and practically — to guide oppressed peoples toward justice and independence.”
Qassem emphasized that Hezbollah in Lebanon has drawn inspiration for its resistance from the Iranian Islamic Revolution under the leadership of Abbas Moussawi, Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine, strengthening the actions of the resistance against occupation, aggression and injustice.
Two Hezbollah leaders were killed by Israeli strikes: Abbas Moussawi on Feb. 16, 1992, in southern Lebanon, and Hassan Nasrallah on Sept. 27, 2024, in Beirut's southern suburbs. Hashem Safieddine, considered a potential successor to Nasrallah, was also killed on Oct. 3, 2024, in Beirut's southern suburbs.
“We congratulate you on your election and reaffirm our loyalty to your command, as we were to the martyred leader and to Imam Khomeini,” Qassem said. “We remain steadfast in supporting religion, justice and humanity until justice is achieved,” adding his wishes for the new leader’s success in fulfilling the aspirations of Iran and oppressed peoples worldwide.
Hezbollah has repeatedly refused calls from Lebanese authorities and the international community to hand over its arsenal to the Lebanese Army and has continued launching rockets toward Israel. Following the Israeli-American strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel on the night of March 1–2, triggering an open war with Israel.
The Lebanese Health Ministry reported Wednesday that at least 634 people have been killed and 1,586 wounded since the start of the Israeli offensive in Lebanon on March 2. On Wednesday alone, Israel killed at least 64 people and injured 142 others. Meanwhile, the total number of displaced people now stands at 816,000.
