TEHRAN: Iran has condemned Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon as a blatant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and a breach of last year’s ceasefire.
Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei stated that the strikes constituted a clear infringement of Lebanon’s territorial integrity.
Lebanon reported that the Israeli attacks killed one person and wounded seven others on Thursday.
The Israeli military confirmed targeting Hezbollah and allied groups in the operation.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the strikes hit civilian facilities and denounced the breach of the Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire negotiated last year.
Tehran serves as the key backer for Hezbollah, though the group has been significantly weakened by recent hostilities with Israel.
The overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria further damaged Hezbollah by severing its overland supply route to Iran.
This development represents a significant blow to Iran, which also faced Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear facilities during a twelve-day war with Israel earlier this year.
Hezbollah and Israel had agreed to a truce in November following more than a year of hostilities that escalated into two months of open warfare.
Israel has continued to repeatedly bomb Lebanese territory despite the ceasefire agreement.
Baqaei additionally accused France and the United States, as truce guarantors, of continued inaction and appeasement toward Israel’s repeated violations of the agreement. – AFP
