Hezbollah thanks Iran for attack on Israel, urges Lebanon to 'correct' ties with Tehran

Hezbollah released a statement on Tuesday in which it thanked Iran for its missile attack on Sunday against Israel in retaliation to the Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut, calling the Lebanese authorities to seize this opportunity to "correct their official relations with the Islamic Republic."

Hours after the Israeli army struck Beirut's southern suburbs in response to Hezbollah's attack at northern Israel, Iran fired missiles at Israel, leading to an exchange of fire between Tel Aviv and Tehran that stopped on Monday noon.

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"This Iranian support for our legitimate rights, and its willingness to bear its material and political costs, once again confirms that Iran stands by Lebanon — not the other way around — based on its principles, human values, and the deep historical ties between the Lebanese and Iranian peoples," Hezbollah said in its statement.

"Its honorable stance alongside Lebanon deserves gratitude from the authorities, not denial or deliberate offense in response to external dictates," the group added.

On Friday, President Joseph Aoun called on Iran to stop ‘’intervening’’ in Lebanese affairs following the collapse of a new truce announced in Washington following direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam similarly called on Iran to stop using Lebanon as a ‘’means of leverage’’ in negotiations with the United States. A day after the truce announced on June 3, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem had rejected and harshly criticized the "cease-fire" agreement, denouncing it as "a capitulation and a defeat" and demanding a "comprehensive" cease-fire and the withdrawal of Israelis from southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah said in the statement on Sunday that the "unjust attack" on Iran, including Lebanon's joint statement with Israel and the U.S. administration "violates all diplomatic norms and represents a condemned alignment that serves only the Israeli enemy."

"We call on the Lebanese authorities to seize this opportunity and correct their official relations with the Islamic Republic in a way that serves the interests of both countries, and to benefit from this Iranian support in achieving our national goals — especially in light of the emerging regional umbrella resulting from the [U.S.-Iran] Islamabad negotiations," the group noted.

Hezbollah also mentioned Yemen's Houthis' attack on Israel in parallel with Iran's missiles and their closing of the Strait of Mandeb, saying that this represents a "framework of joint action to deter Israel and to make the U.S. administration understand that its backing of the Israeli aggression against [Lebanon] will undermine all the agreements it seeks."

In parallel to Hezbollah's statement, Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on Tuesday that Lebanon and Iran are not “auxiliary forces for one another and do not fight on each other’s behalf," adding that they "do, however, share a common enemy." On Monday evening, the Iranian Embassy in Lebanon wrote on X: “Lebanon is the heart of Iran," alongside an image depicting the map of Lebanon inside a heart set within the Islamic Republic’s map.