Iran welcomes ceasefire in Lebanon, reserves right to react to Israeli airstrikes

Israel conducted airstrikes on Iranian targets on 26 October in retaliation for an Iranian missile attack against Israel on 1 October. Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, indicated in an interview on Sunday that Tehran was preparing to retaliate against Israel.

While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Tuesday that Hezbollah had been “set back decades,” Araqchi countered, stating that the group had not been significantly weakened despite the loss of key leaders and Israel’s ground offensive since early October.

Araqchi highlighted Hezbollah’s resilience, saying the group had managed to reorganise and fight back effectively. “This is the main reason why Israel accepted the ceasefire. Every time they [Hezbollah] lose leaders or commanders, they grow stronger in both numbers and capacity,” he noted. His comments echoed those of senior Hezbollah official Hassan Fadlallah, who claimed the group would emerge from the conflict stronger and with greater numbers.

Meanwhile, Iranian state media reported that the foreign ministry dismissed as “baseless” a statement by G7 foreign ministers demanding that Tehran cease its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moscow and Tehran have reportedly deepened their military and economic ties.

(With Inputs from Reuters)