Iran’s four-word response after Hezbollah begs for attack on Israel | World | News

Iran has so far refused to take action, despite its proxy force Hezbollah being attacked in an intense Israeli bombing campaign.

A weakened Hezbollah has reached out to Iran in recent days and urged them to help the Lebanese militia by conducting an attack in retaliation to strikes from Israel.

It is thought there is frustration among Hezbollah officials that Iran has yet to respond to the Israeli assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran two months ago.

Two Israeli intelligence officials told US outlet Axios that Iran has informed their Hezbollah counterparts that “the timing isn’t right”. Tehran is refraining from striking its enemy while the country’s president Masoud Pezeshkian is currently in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, according to the intelligence.

Mr Pezeshkian has told reporters at the UN conference that Israel is the only party seeking a wider war in the region and stressed that Iran doesn’t want to fall into this “trap.”

The Iranian leader told CNN that Iran doesn’t want Lebanon to turn into another Gaza and pledged support for Hezbollah.

He said: “Hezbollah cannot stand alone against a country that is being defended and supported and supplied by Western countries, by European countries and the United States.”

There has been speculation that Iran could launch a missile and drone attack against Israel, similar to the attack in April.

This comes as Israel has hit senior figures in the Iran-backed movement during days of devastating air strikes across Lebanon.

The Israeli offensive since Monday morning has killed 569 people, including 50 children, and wounded 1,835 in Lebanon, according to the country’s health minister Firass Abiad. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people have fled southern Lebanon.

On Tuesday, the IDF conducted an airstrike in Beirut that the Israeli military claimed killed the head of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile force Ibrahim Qabisi.

Israeli officials have boasted that a large portion of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile arsenal has been destroyed over the last few days.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei weighed in this morning, insisting that Israel’s killing of Hezbollah commanders will not bring the group to its knees.

He said: “The organisational strength and human resources of Hezbollah is very strong and will not be critically hit by the killing of a senior commander, even if that is clearly a loss.”

He accused Israel of killing civilians in Lebanon and Gaza because it was unable to defeat its enemies on the battlefield.

On Sunday, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin discussed the threat of Iranian involvement with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant during a phone call.

There is concern among US officials that a direct Iranian attack against Israel would dramatically destabilise the region even further and likely draw the US into active fighting.