DUBAI (Reuters) – Israel should not be allowed to attack countries in the Iran-aligned “Axis of Resistance” one after the other, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday.
Israel said it had bombed Houthi targets in Yemen on Sunday, expanding its confrontation with Iran’s allies in the region after killing the Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday in an escalating conflict in Lebanon.
Pezeshkian, in comments carried by state media, said Lebanon should be supported.
“Lebanese fighters should not be left alone in this battle so that the Zionist regime (Israel) does not attack Axis of Resistance countries one after the other,” he said.
An Iranian Revolutionary Guards deputy commander, Abbas Nilforoushan, was also killed in the attack that killed the Hezbollah leader in Beirut.
“We cannot accept such actions and they will not be left unanswered. A decisive reaction is necessary,” Pezeshkian said.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani condemned the Israeli strikes in Yemen, saying in a statement that they had targeted “civilian infrastructure” such as a power plant and fuel tanks.
“Iran once again warns about the consequences of the Zionist regime’s (Israel) warmongering on regional and international peace and security,” spokesperson Nasser Kanaani added.
In another Israeli attack on Yemen in July, fighter jets bombed “dual-use sites such as energy infrastructure” in Hodeidah, with Israel’s military spokesperson saying the port was used by the Houthis to receive Iranian weapons shipments.
(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Frances Kerry)
