Israel Struck Beirut as ‘Axis of Resistance’ Leaders Attended Iran Inauguration
Israel’s strike on Beirut on Tuesday came as senior leaders of the regional militant groups backed by Iran, known as the “axis of resistance,” were in Tehran for the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian.
Even before the Israeli attack targeting a Hezbollah commander, Iranian military leaders were expected to meet with the militant leaders on the looming threat of war between Israel and Hezbollah.
In a statement on Tuesday, Iran’s embassy in Beirut condemned “the cowardly and criminal attack,” according to Iranian media. In a separate statement, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, also strongly condemned the attack and said it was “a clear violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty.” He warned that Hezbollah and Lebanon had the right to retaliate against Israel and said that Iran would hold Israel and the U.S. responsible for a wider regional war.
The threat of a regional war could present Mr. Pezeshkian with the first major crisis of his presidency. Iran has maintained a dual policy of averting direct engagement in all-out war while supporting a network of militant groups that have opened fronts on Israel from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria.
Inauguration ceremonies are typically an occasion for Iran to showcase its domestic politics to an audience of foreign dignitaries. But this year, the volatile state of the Middle East, and Iran’s key role in shaping events through its influence over a network of militant groups, were also prominent themes.
On Tuesday, Mr. Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon who has portrayed himself as a reformer and beat a hard-line conservative in a July runoff vote, placed his hand on the Quran to take the oath of office, standing at a podium decorated with green, white and red flowers — the colors of Iran’s flag. In his speech, he addressed Iran’s support for the Palestinian cause.
“We want a world where Palestinians are free from the clutches of injustice and occupation,” he said. “And the dreams of no Palestinian child is buried under the rubbles of their home. We can help realize this dream.”
Senior officials from the regional militant groups sat in the front row: Hezbollah’s deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Qassem; Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh; the leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziyad Al-Nakhalah; and Mohammed Abdulsalam, a Houthi spokesman.
The leaders held individual meetings with Mr. Pezeshkian in Tehran before the ceremony, also meeting with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. A video of the inauguration ceremony showed Mr. Pezeshkian and Mr. Haniyah hugging on the floor of the parliament and raising their hands jointly to make the victory sign.
In addition to the militant leaders, foreign dignitaries from more than 80 countries attended the ceremony. A day earlier, President Emmanuel Macron of France spoke with Mr. Pezeshkian on the phone and discussed escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, Iranian media reported.
Mr. Pezeshkian, 69, campaigned on promising to bring about change in domestic policies — easing social restrictions on women’s hijab and internet filtering, and improving the economy through negotiations with the west to lift tough economic sanctions.
But he has pledged to continue the state’s policies toward Israel and supporting the militant groups, as determined by Mr. Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guards Corps. Iran has long viewed the network of militant groups it funds, arms and supports as a line of defense and has warned that, if Israel extensively targets Hezbollah, it will face a coordinated retaliation from multiple fronts.
“Iran does not want war. It has been telling Hezbollah to keep the tensions with Israel contained. But at the same time, we will not sit by and watch our most important ally come under existential attack,” Nasser Imani, an analyst close to the government, said in a telephone interview from Tehran.
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