Iran says Lebanon “not in need” of military as Israel battles Hezbollah

Iranian officials told Newsweek that it was providing humanitarian aid to Lebanon as Israel intensified its campaign against Hezbollah and that sending military aid to the country was not necessary.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran remains actively involved in the provision of humanitarian assistance to Lebanon via multiple channels and has formally expressed its preparedness to extend medical aid and to receive the wounded—a proposition duly accepted by the Government of Lebanon,” the Iranian Mission to the United Nations said in a statement shared with Newsweek.

“Lebanon is not in need of military support,” the statement added. “The foremost and urgent priority must center upon the establishment of a ceasefire and the facilitation of relief efforts.”

The comments came hours after Fox News cited a report by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as the Mojahedin-e-Khelq (MeK), which claimed that Tehran has been secretly sending light and medium weapons to Hezbollah and smuggling food via civilian flights of its flag carrier Iran Air.

The PMOI/MeK, a leading member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran opposition coalition, is a dissident group that seeks to overthrow the government of Iran and claims a vast underground network involved in the leaks of sensitive information.

Newsweek has reached out to Hezbollah, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the National Council of Resistance of Iran for comment.

Israel has substantially intensified its air and land offensive targeting the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon in recent weeks. The IDF’s cross-border strikes began in response to Hezbollah firing rockets and drones against Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian Hamas movement shortly after it launched a massive attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.

Iran has long invested in support for Hezbollah as a leading member of the Tehran-aligned Axis of Resistance coalition. The group has claimed a vast arsenal of weapons, including precision guided missiles, that have been used to strike Israel in the ongoing war.

But the group has also suffered major blows throughout the course of the conflict, particularly over the past month as a wave of blasts rocked communications devices used by the group in an act widely attributed to Israel. Much of its senior leadership, including longtime Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, has been killed in Israeli airstrikes. An IDF land incursion also threatens to seize the group’s stronghold in southern Lebanon.

“The IDF’s limited and localized raids in southern Lebanon aim to eliminate the threat of Hezbollah rocket fire and the Radwan Forces, whose expressed mission is to infiltrate towns in northern Israel to murder and kidnap Israeli civilians,” the IDF said in a statement Thursday.

“The IDF is operating to prevent further attacks by Hezbollah and to return the residents of the north to their homes.”

But Hezbollah, which has battled Israel in two previous wars that ultimately resulted in the IDF’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon, has continued to launch new operations against Israeli military and cities. The group claimed around two dozen separate operations against the IDF on Friday alone.

Each attack was said to be carried out “in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, in support of their valiant and honorable resistance, and in defense of Lebanon and its people.”

The Lebanese Health Ministry has reported that more than 2,100 have been killed by Israeli military action since last year. The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza has recorded more than 42,000 deaths in the Hamas-held territory since the IDF launched operations there.

Israeli officials estimate that roughly 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas-led attack last October, and about 240 people taken hostage, around 100 of them who are believed to remain in captivity. The IDF has also reported on the deaths of nearly 350 soldiers in the ensuing war.

This is a developing news story. More information will be added as it becomes available.