TEHRAN – The Iranian Foreign Ministry has, in a statement, categorically condemned the Israeli regime’s large-scale strikes on different areas of Lebanon, dismissing them as “blatant violation of the sovereignty of an independent country,” and “a crime against international peace and security.”

“The continuation of Tel Aviv’s warmongering and expansionist policies has posed a serious threat to regional peace and stability, and if these actions go unanswered, it will have dangerous consequences,” the statement added.

In the statement, Iran called on the international community, the United Nations and the regional countries to show serious reaction to these actions and take the Israeli regime to task.

Israeli officials have confirmed that the recent attacks on Lebanon were carried out in coordination with the United States, despite the ceasefire brokered by Washington last year.

Israel’s broadcasting corporation (Kan) cited Israeli officials as saying that the strikes in Lebanon were carried out "in coordination with the Americans," who have been present at Israel’s so-called Northern Command base since the ceasefire was reached last November.

The sources claimed that the strikes came as the Lebanese Army "does not operate uniformly across the country when it comes to disarming the Hezbollah movement," and that its "pace of its operations is estimated to be slower than expected."

The officials said "the United States also recognizes that Hezbollah must be disarmed, in accordance with the decision of the Lebanese government."

In August, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam tasked the country’s army to develop a plan to restrict weapons to the state by the end of the year, a decision that aims at disarming the Hezbollah Resistance movement that has for decades defended the country from external aggression, especially from the Israeli enemy.

Hezbollah has condemned the government’s decision to disarm it as a “grave sin,” warning that such a move would weaken the country against Israeli aggression. The popular Resistance group declared it would ignore the decision entirely, treating it “as if it did not exist."

In a further escalation of its violations of the ceasefire agreement, Israel’s warplanes carried out heavy airstrikes on several southern Lebanese towns on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Thursday decried the Israeli airstrikes as “full-fledged crime.”

“What Israel committed today in southern Lebanon constitutes a full-fledged crime under international humanitarian law, which criminalizes the targeting, terrorizing, and forced displacement of civilians,” Aoun said.

He also described the Israeli escalation as “a heinous political crime”, stressing that “Every time Lebanon expresses openness to peaceful negotiations to resolve outstanding issues with Israel, the latter intensifies its aggression against Lebanese sovereignty, flaunts its disregard for UN Security Council Resolution 1701, and continues violating its obligations.”

The Lebanese army also denounced the Israeli strikes as “a continuation of the enemy’s destructive approach aimed at undermining Lebanon’s stability, expanding devastation in the south, and prolonging the war to maintain the threat against the Lebanese people.”

Israel launched its aggression against Lebanon in October 2023 in response to Hezbollah’s pro-Palestinian airstrikes against the occupied territories. The regime, however, agreed to the truce after failing to stop the Resistance operations and cripple Hezbollah as it had sought.

Since the ceasefire began on November 27, 2024, Israel has breached it hundreds of times and carried out near-daily fatal strikes on Lebanon.