Hezbollah vows loyalty to Khamenei as Iran-Israel war approaches week 2
The group publicly defended the Iranian leader as some worry Hezbollah might retaliate against Israel for its attack on Iran, its main ally and supporter.
BEIRUT — Hezbollah on Thursday issued a strongly worded statement condemning threats against Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, amid the ongoing Iran-Israel war. The statement followed warnings by the United States against the group joining in the fight, as concerns grow that Lebanon could be dragged into another war some six months after a ceasefire ended its own conflict with Israel.
Hezbollah called the threats "reckless and foolish" and said they "will have disastrous consequences.”
"Merely uttering them is an offense to hundreds of millions of believers and those connected to Islam, and it is utterly reprehensible," the group said in the statement. "Today, we are more determined to uphold the path of the great Leader and Imam Khamenei and are united around him and the heroic Iranian people in resisting the Israeli-American aggression on the Islamic Republic."
What happened: The statement comes as the war launched last Friday by Israel rages on amid reported Israeli threats to assassinate Khamenei. Israel launched an unprecedented wave of air attacks against Iran’s nuclear and military facilities across the country, as well as strikes on residential areas, prompting Iran to respond with hundreds of drones and missiles targeting Israel.
