Iran strongly criticized Israel on Monday for killing Hezbollah’s military chief, following an attack in Beirut that targeted the commander.
“The Iranian foreign ministry strongly condemns the cowardly assassination of the great commander of the Lebanese Islamic Resistance, the martyr Haytham Ali Tabatabai,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Tabatabai is the highest-ranking Hezbollah official to be killed by Israel since the November 2024 ceasefire, which aimed to end over a year of conflict.
The Iranian foreign ministry added that the killing “constitutes a flagrant violation of the November 2024 ceasefire and a brutal breach of Lebanon’s national sovereignty.”
Hezbollah confirmed the death of “the great commander” Tabatabai earlier.
Although little known to the Lebanese public, Tabatabai was part of the new leadership appointed after the war.
Since the truce, Israel has carried out repeated strikes in Lebanon, typically targeting Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure.
Tehran, a principal backer of Hezbollah, has seen the group weakened by its latest clashes with Israel and by the ousting of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, which cut a crucial land route to Iran.
These developments have also impacted Iran directly, which suffered attacks on its nuclear facilities by Israel and the United States during a 12-day war earlier this year.
