Pezeshkian: Iran never to forsake Lebanon in face of Israeli onslaught
Pakistan scolds Israel as ‘evil and a curse for humanity’
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian announced on Thursday that the Islamic Republic would never abandon the Lebanese nation after the Israeli regime’s barbaric bombing of various areas across the country despite a ceasefire.
More than 100 Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon on Wednesday, including attacks on densely populated neighborhoods in Beirut, killed over 300 people and damaged a key bridge linking southern Lebanon with the rest of the country.
The bombings, which also wounded more than 1,150 people according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, were described as the deadliest aggression since March 2, when Israel launched an air campaign and ground operations in southern Lebanon. The onslaught on April 8 came hours after Iran and the US announced a 15-day Pakistani-brokered ceasefire which also included Lebanon in a 40-day war. “Renewed aggression by the Zionist regime against Lebanon blatantly violates the initial ceasefire,” Pezeshkian wrote in a post on his X account.
Pakistan confirmed that Lebanon was included in the ceasefire it had mediated. Israel and the US, however, claim the ceasefire does not include Lebanon, with Israel announcing it will continue its attacks on the country.
“Such actions signal deception and non-compliance, rendering negotiations meaningless,” Pezeshkian added. “Our hands remain on the trigger. Iran will never forsake its Lebanese brothers and sisters.” The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) also announced that Iran is preparing “regret-inducing” response to the renewed Israeli attacks on Lebanon, warning that any assault on Hezbollah is an assault on the Islamic Republic.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif blasted the Israeli regime as “evil and a curse for humanity,” slamming its ongoing genocide against innocent civilians in Lebanon while diplomatic peace efforts are underway in Islamabad.
Taking to the social media platform X on Thursday, the senior Pakistani politician drew a clear line between the Zionist entity’s bloodletting and any pretense of pursuing peace, stating, “Israel is evil and a curse for humanity, while peace talks are underway in Islamabad, genocide is being committed in Lebanon. Innocent citizens are being killed by Israel, first Gaza, then Iran and now Lebanon, bloodletting continues unabated.”
Asif further described the Zionist regime as a “cancerous state” forcibly implanted on Palestinian land, underscoring that its very existence has brought nothing but destruction and instability to the region and the wider world.
Pakistan has long stood firmly with the Palestinian people and the Lebanese resistance in their legitimate struggle against Zionist occupation and expansionism.