Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei holds emergency meeting after IDF strike eliminates Hezbollah leader Nasrallah

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ordered the Supreme National Security Council to hold an emergency meeting following Israel’s strike on Hezbollah Sec.-Gen. Hassan Nasrallah at the terror group’s headquarters in Beirut.

Iran’s recently elected president Masoud Pezeshkian called the Israeli strike a “flagrant war crime,” that “has revealed once again the nature of this regime’s state terrorism.”

Ali Larijani, a top advisor of Khamenei claimed Israel was “crossing Tehran’s red lines,” and that the situation was becoming serious.

“Assassinations will not solve Israel’s problem… With the assassination of resistance leaders, others will take their place,” he added, referring to the heads of the Iranian-backed terrorist proxies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen.

Khamenei falsely accused Israel of targeting civilians in Lebanon.

“The killing of defenseless people in Lebanon once again revealed the ferocity of the Zionist rabid dog to everyone and proved the short-sightedness and stupid policy of the leaders of the usurping regime,” the Iranian leader stated.

“The Zionist criminals should know that they are too small to cause significant damage to the strong construction of Hezbollah in Lebanon,” he added.

Israel has recently eliminated most of Hezbollah’s top leadership, killed a large number of Hezbollah terrorists and destroyed much of its military assets.

Khamenei vowed that the Iranian-backed terror proxies in the region would continue supporting Hezbollah and keep attacking Israel.

“All the resistance forces of the region are with Hezbollah and support it…It is obligatory for all Muslims to stand proudly with the people of Lebanon and Hezbollah with their resources and help it in confronting the usurping, oppressive and evil regime.”

Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Saturday that it had eliminated Nasrallah, who led the terror group for over three decades. A few hours later, Hezbollah also confirmed his death. Several other top Hezbollah terrorists and the top-ranking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) General Abbas Nilforushan were also killed in the Israeli strike.

Following the Israeli bombing of the Hezbollah headquarters, the Iranian supreme leader was reportedly moved to a safe location.

The Biden administration stressed it was not involved in the strike on Nasrallah, which flattened six apartment buildings in Beirut. However, the Iranian Foreign Ministry accused the United States of cooperating with Israel.

The Iranian embassy in the United Kingdom condemned the Israeli elimination of Nasrallah, calling it a “dangerous escalation.”

“This reprehensible crime… represents a dangerous escalation that changes the rules of the game,” Tehran’s embassy in London wrote on 𝕏, vowing to retaliate against Israel with an “appropriate punishment.”

Meanwhile, the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza condemned the strike on Hezbollah’s headquarters as “the brutal and ongoing Zionist aggression and escalation against the brotherly Lebanese people through savage air strikes,” claiming that Israel targets “residential buildings.”

Like Hamas, Hezbollah has deliberately embedded itself, including the terror group’s headquarters in a civilian setting, which constitutes a war crime under international law.

Russia and Turkey also issued condemnations of the Israeli airstrike that killed Nasrallah and other senior terrorist leaders.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused Israel of “genocide,” while Russia stated that it “decisively condemn[s] the latest political murder carried out by Israel” and “once again insistently urge[s] Israel to immediately cease military action.”