Iran says its allies ‘will not back down’ in war with Israel

Iran’s supreme leader vowed in a rare address yesterday that his allies around the region would keep fighting Israel, as he defended his country’s missile strike on its foe.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s address in Tehran follows Iran’s second ever direct attack on Israel. It was also the first since exchanges of fire between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops escalated into full-blown war in Lebanon.
Khamenei defended the Palestinian group Hamas’ “logical and legal” actions and hailed its “fierce defence” against Israeli forces.
The Israeli military launched an intensified wave of strikes on Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon, killing more than 1,000 people since September 23, according to Lebanese authorities, and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes in a country already mired in economic crisis.
“The resistance in the region will not back down with these martyrdoms, and will win,” Khamenei said, speaking in Arabic.
The Iranian leader charged that Israel was a “malicious regime” which “will not last long”.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Beirut and said his government backs “the efforts for a ceasefire” that would be acceptable to Hezbollah and come “simultaneously with a ceasefire in Gaza”. (AFP)