TEHRAN: Iran welcomed the end of Israel’s “aggression” in Lebanon, after a ceasefire came into force on Wednesday between Israel and Hezbollah.
Hailing the news of the end of Israel’s “aggression against Lebanon”, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei in a statement stressed Iran’s “firm support for the Lebanese government, nation and resistance”.
He also called on the international community to “exert effective pressure” on Israel to end the war in Gaza.
Iran has made support for the Palestinian cause a pillar of its foreign policy since the advent of the Islamic Republic in 1979.
The war in Lebanon has dealt blows to Hezbollah, killing the group’s charismatic leader Hassan Nasrallah in September in a powerful Israeli strike in Beirut, as well as many other top ranking officials.
While Iran officially celebrated the ceasefire, many citizens expressed doubts over the prospects of long-term peace.
“I hope that (the truce) will last,” Mostafa, a student in Tehran who did not wish to give his full name, told AFP.
Israel, Hezbollah ceasefire holds in first hours, Lebanese civilians return to south
“But I don’t think so, because they (the Israelis) are fundamentally looking for war,” said the 22-year-old.
Yeganeh, another student in the capital, said: “We hope there will be no war anywhere, but it’s not something we can predict.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said the truce in Lebanon would allow his country to “focus on the Iranian threat”, without elaborating.
Newspapers, printed before the ceasefire officially came into effect at dawn Wednesday, hailed the event, casting it as a triumph for Hezbollah.
It is an “admission of defeat” for Netanyahu, read the front-page headline of conservative daily Jahan, stressing that the Israeli premier had promised the “complete destruction” of Hezbollah.
Israel’s assault on Hezbollah left the Lebanese group weakened, but not completely crushed, with many of its supporters in Lebanon hailing the end of the war as a “victory”.
“Hezbollah’s missiles did the job,” read the front page of Kayhan, another conservative newspaper whose editor-in-chief is personally appointed by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The papers appeared to echo remarks by Iranian foreign ministry official Mojtaba Ferdosipour, who told state television on Tuesday evening that Netanyahu was forced to accept a ceasefire “after suffering major blows from Hezbollah”.
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