Iran's foreign ministry on Friday condemned Israeli air strikes on south Lebanon, calling it a violation of a ceasefire with the weakened Hezbollah group it backs and holding the truce's guarantors the United States and France responsible.
Israeli air attacks targeted the village of Mazraat Sinay on Thursday, killing one person and wounding seven others according to local health authorities.
Videos shared on social media depicted a large orange blast and mushroom cloud rising in the night sky. The Israeli military said it aimed at "terrorist" targets.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei called the attacks "a blatant violation of Lebanon’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty."
"This situation stems from the persistent inaction and appeasement of the ceasefire guarantors, France and the United States," he added.
A shaky truce has held since a November truce ended over a year of cross-border combat between old foes Hezbollah and Israel, in which over 4,000 Lebanese people were killed according to medics.
The punishing war culminated in attacks on Hezbollah leaders' communication devices, maiming hundreds. Massive air strikes killed the group's veteran leader Hassan Nasrallah, a canny commander and the most charismatic advocate of the so-called Resistance Axis of armed groups Tehran led in the Arab world.
A chastened Hezbollah, once seen as a key deterrent for its Iranian patrons against Israeli attack, totally sat out the 12-day Iran-Israel war in which Tehran was badly bruised.
Iran's regional influence has been sapped by the nearly two years of regional conflict sparked by the attacks its Palestinian ally Hamas launched on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Its continued sway hangs in the balance as a truce brokered by US President Donald Trump took hold in Gaza over the weekend.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun accused Israel of violating the ceasefire with Hezbollah.
“The repeated Israeli aggression is part of a systematic policy aimed at destroying productive infrastructure, hindering economic recovery, and undermining national stability under false security pretexts,” he said in a statement.
Israel has demanded Hamas and Hezbollah disarm, and the Lebanese government has called for the group to give up its arsenal by the end of the year.
However, President Aoun seeks to limit Hezbollah’s weapons rather than fully disarm the group, sources close to Aoun told Iran International.
The aim is to gradually wear down and neutralize Hezbollah’s arms without the need for forced disarmament, the sources said.
