Iranian official warns it will use ‘all means’ to back Hezbollah

An adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said that Tehran could come to Hezbollah’s backing if Israel were to launch a preemptive ground invasion into Lebanon.

Kamal Kharrazi, a foreign affairs adviser to the supreme leader, told the Financial Times that Iran and its “axis of resistance,” a title given to the proxy forces the country supports and funds in the Middle East, would come to Hezbollah’s defense with “all means.”

“All Lebanese people, Arab countries, and members of the axis of resistance will support Lebanon against Israel,” he said, though he added a regional conflict “is not in the interest of anyone.”

“There would be a chance of expansion of the war to the whole region, in which all countries including Iran would become engaged. In that situation, we would have no choice but to support Hezbollah by all means,” Kharrazi added, emphasizing how the limited fighting between Israel and Hezbollah could spiral into a regional war.

Hezbollah began firing rockets and missiles into northern Israel on Oct. 8, kicking off the limited conflict that threatens to unravel and bring the region with it. A day prior, Hamas, another member of Iran’s “axis of resistance,” carried out the largest terrorist attack in Israel’s history, which resulted in the deaths of roughly 1,200 people and the kidnapping of around 250 others.

Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas is winding down, according to Israeli officials, though the details remain unclear about what its plan is for the governance of Gaza following the war. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that officials from the United States “expect” the Israelis “to develop their own plans” for it and noted, “We’ve not seen enough of that from Israel.”

The shift in Israel’s war in Gaza could free up military resources if the country is planning a preemptive escalation in the north against Hezbollah. The leaders of both Israel and Hezbollah have threatened the other about a potential all-out conflict in recent weeks.

Last week, Iran’s mission to the United Nations warned that an Israeli offensive against Hezbollah would start an “obliterating war,” adding that “all options” were on the table.

Hezbollah is in violation of the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended its last war in 2006, which bars them from maintaining a presence south of the Litani River, which is located roughly 18 miles north of the Israel-Lebanon border.

Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper highlighted that Israel could force Tehran to make a difficult decision if they escalate and Hezbollah appears to take significant losses.

“The question is, what does Iran do, particularly if the fate of Hezbollah is threatened,” he told the Washington Examiner last week.

The “axis of resistance” also includes the Houthis in Yemen as well as several militias in Iraq and Syria. All of their proxy forces have attacked U.S. or Israeli targets since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.

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Iran got involved in the war briefly in April when it launched a barrage of more than 300 missiles, rockets, and drones from within its own borders toward Israel following an Israeli strike on an Iranian Consulate in Syria that killed a senior Iranian commander and other senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The U.S. was among several of Israel’s allies that helped the country intercept the barrage. The group intercepted nearly all of the incoming rockets and drones.