Hezbollah vows to defend Iran following Khamenei’s death

FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2016 file photo, Hezbollah fighters hold flags as they attend the memorial of their slain leader Sheik Abbas al-Mousawi, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in 1992, in Tefahta village, south Lebanon. During a visit to Beirut in Sept. 2019, David Schenker, the U.S.’s assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, said Washington will designate in the future "individuals in Lebanon who are aiding and assisting Hezbollah, regardless of their sect or religion."The Trump administration has been imposing sanctions on Hezbollah and institutions linked to it at an unprecedented rate in recent months, targeting lawmakers in Lebanon’s parliament for the first time, as well as a local bank. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari, File)

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem pledged on Sunday that the group will “confront the aggression” of the US and Israel.

In a formal eulogy for Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei—whose death was confirmed following a massive US-Israeli strike on Saturday—Qassem reaffirmed the group’s commitment to its ideological patron.

“We will fulfill our duty in confronting this aggression,” Qassem stated, emphasizing that the group would not abandon the “field of honor and resistance” or cease its struggle against “American tyranny and Zionist crimes.”

Despite its long-standing alliance with Tehran, Hezbollah has notably refrained from military intervention since the start of the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday.

This statement marks Hezbollah’s first official rhetorical response, though it stopped short of announcing an immediate military escalation across the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm