A portrait of the former Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, in front of a building in the southern suburbs of Beirut destroyed by Israeli strikes, in March 2026. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Today)
In an address to the Iranian people, the country's Assembly of Experts on Leadership said in a statement on Tuesday that Iran considers that "defending the Resistance Front and its oppressed and powerful fighters, particularly the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, to be its strategic policy," according to semi-official Tasnim news agency.
"Just as the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution has stated, the Islamic Republic of Iran considers, in line with the policy of the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution, defending the Resistance Front and its oppressed and powerful fighters, particularly the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, to be its strategic policy. In this regard, all officials are expected to be committed and act upon their divine duty. Supporting the heroic and militant Hezbollah and the brave and proud Ansarullah is a duty that officials must not neglect under any circumstances or at any time," reads the statement.
"The experience of the past several months once again showed that against the aggressor enemy there is no path other than jihad and resistance, and with the Great Satan and his wicked accomplices no understanding can be reached," the Assembly of Experts added.
After stopping its attacks against Israel for 15 months between Nov. 2024 and March 2026 despite near-daily Israeli strikes in the same period, Hezbollah carried out its first operation on March 2, two days after the start of the U.S.-Iran war, leading to the second major war between Hezbollah and Israel in less than two years.
