Khamenei says Iran and its allies will not back down from Israel

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday his country and its regional allies will not back down from Israel.
His comments followed an Israeli attack on Beirut that is thought to have targeted the heir-apparent to Tehran-backed Hizbullah’s assassinated leader.
Iran raised the stakes when it fired missiles at Israel on Tuesday after its enemy assassinated Hizbullah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, who turned the group into Lebanon’s most powerful military and political force with reach across the Middle East.
“The resistance in the region will not back down even with the killing of its leaders,” the ayatollah said in a rare appearance leading Friday prayers in Tehran, mentioning Mr Nasrallah in his speech and calling its attack on Israel legal and legitimate.
He did not mention Hizbullah official Hashem Safieddine, rumoured to be Mr Nasrallah’s successor. Axios reporter Barak Ravid cited three Israeli officials as saying that Mr Safieddine had been targeted in an underground bunker in Beirut overnight.
Mr Safieddine’s fate was not clear, Mr Ravid said on X.
Israel’s military declined to comment and Hizbullah made no comment on Mr Safieddine’s fate. His brother Sayyed Abdallah Safieddine, who is Hizbullah’s representative to Iran, attended the ayatollah’s speech in Tehran.
Iran’s proxies in its “Axis of Resistance” – Hizbullah, Yemen’s Houthis and armed groups in Iraq – have carried out attacks in the region in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza war. The ayatollah said Afghanistan should join the “defence”.
Israel has assassinated leaders and commanders of Hizbullah and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group it has been seeking to wipe out in Gaza since its attack on Israel a year ago.
Israel’s military said on Friday that it had eliminated the head of Hizbullah’s communication networks, Mohammad Rashid Sakafi, by conducting a “precise, intelligence-based strike” in Beirut on Thursday.
US president Joe Biden suggested on Thursday Israel’s response to Iran’s missile salvo, which it fended off with its extensive defences, could include a strike on Iran’s oil facilities.
[ Sally Hayden: Dahiyeh was bustling and full of life. Suddenly it stands emptyOpens in new window ]
Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiye, a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hizbullah, came under renewed strikes near midnight on Thursday after Israel ordered people to leave their homes in some areas, residents and security sources said.
Huge explosions shook the sky in the vicinity of Beirut’s main airport in the early hours of Friday, and Lebanese civilians said they were living in constant fear.
Tensions between Iran and Israel have been high as Israel has been weighing options to respond to Tehran’s ballistic missile attack on Tuesday, which Iran had carried out in response to Israel’s military action in Lebanon.
Mr Biden said he did not believe there is going to be an “all-out war” in the Middle East, as Israel weighs options for retaliation, but that more needed to be done to prevent one.
While the United States, the European Union, and other allies have called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire in the Israel-Lebanon conflict, Mr Biden said the US was discussing with Israel its options for responding to Tehran’s assault, which included Israel striking Iran’s oil facilities.
His comments contributed to a surge in global oil prices, and rising Middle East tension has made traders worry about potential supply disruptions.
However, Mr Biden added: “There is nothing going to happen today.” Asked later if he was urging Israel not to attack Iran’s oil installations, Mr Biden said he would not negotiate in public.
In the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm an Israeli air strike killed at least 18 people in a cafe. The Israel Defence Forces claimed it had killed a local Hamas leader, Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi, in the attack, which levelled the entire building, along with several other Hamas members.
Civilians were also reportedly killed – including a mother and her two children according to Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera – and Palestinian media said it was the bloodiest single Israeli attack on the West Bank in 24 years. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that more people were buried under the rubble, citing a Red Crescent paramedic and local media.- Reuters/agencies.