TEHRAN – Iran has strongly reacted to the recent Israeli aggression in Lebanon that led to the assassination of senior Hezbollah commander Haytham Ali Tabatabai.

In a post on his X account, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani expressed condolences on the martyrdom of Haytham Ali Tabatabai and a number of his companions by the Israeli regime.

He said these martyrs achieved their objectives, but “[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu presses ahead with his adventurism, so that everyone will understand there is no way but to confront this illegitimate entity.”

Haytham Ali Tabatabai was assassinated by a devastating Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sunday. While Israel has violated a November 2024 ceasefire agreement almost daily since it came into effect, this attack is significant as it marks the first time the regime's warplanes have struck the capital. Most prior violations have taken place in southern Lebanon.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran also condemned the assassination. In a statement late on Sunday, the ministry called the strike a “gross violation” of the ceasefire and a “brutal attack” on Lebanon’s sovereignty.

The ministry emphasized the necessity of holding criminal Israeli leaders accountable for “terrorist acts and war crimes.”

Arab media described the Israeli attack as "treacherous," noting it targeted residential buildings. Footage from the aftermath shows citizens in a state of shock and fear, with several individuals living nearby seen covered in blood. The assault killed at least five people and injured 28 others.

Lebanese Resistance movement Hezbollah officially confirmed the martyrdom of Haytham Ali Tabatabai hours after it took place.

"With pride and honor, Hezbollah announces to the people of the Resistance and to our Lebanese people the martyrdom of the great jihadi commander Haytham Ali Tabtabai (Sayyed Abu Ali), who rose to martyrdom in sacrifice for Lebanon and its people following a treacherous Israeli attack on Haret Hreik in Beirut’s southern suburb," Hezbollah said in a statement.

The Resistance group praised his unwavering dedication to the Resistance movement, noting that he had been instrumental in building its strength since its inception.

Hezbollah stated that Tabatabai's martyrdom would inspire renewed hope and determination among Resistance fighters, vowing to continue the struggle against the "Zionist enemy and its patron, America."

Hezbollah has lost many of its top leaders to Israeli strikes over the past two years. During this period, Israel has also waged war on several other fronts, including Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Qatar, as well as against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. An estimated 100,000 to 300,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023.

Israel’s “decapitation” strategy, however, appears to have failed to prevent Hezbollah from regrouping and repairing itself. According to Hebrew media, the Resistance group has not only regained its military capability on multiple fronts but is also preparing for a larger wave of Israeli aggression, which is widely believed to be imminent.

A former chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said on Monday that the Israeli regime’s targeted killings of Resistance commanders were accelerating its own demise.

Mohsen Rezaei stated that the regime “imagines it can advance [its agenda] through assassinations,” believing that striking Lebanese and Iranian commanders would force the nations into submission.

Israel assassinated Iran’s top military commanders in the first hours of its 12-day war in June, assuming the move would significantly delay retaliation. Instead, Iran retaliated the same day, ended up forcing the regime to seek a ceasefire, and continued to target the occupied territories until the final moments before the truce took effect.

Rezaei, currently a member of the Islamic Republic’s Expediency Council, added that such commanders do not represent governments or states. “These commanders belong to nations, to the oppressed. Their martyrdom [therefore] cannot be meaningless for the peoples.”

Meanwhile, the Lebanese government has managed to do little to prevent Israeli violations of the ceasefire over the past year. Authorities in Beirut have primarily focused on fulfilling demands from Washington—Israel's main patron and funder of its wars—the most important of which is the disarmament of Hezbollah. Founded in the early 1980s during Israel’s occupation of Lebanon, Hezbollah has become the most formidable defensive force against the regime in the past decades.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet are avid supporters of the "Greater Israel" vision, which seeks to incorporate the entirety of Lebanon, along with territories from other regional countries, into a Jewish state.