TEHRAN —When Lebanon came under a cruel attack by Israel in the summer of 2006, Arab foreign ministers gathered in Beirut on August 7 to express their support for Lebanon. At the time, Fouad Siniora was Lebanon’s prime minister.

Addressing the foreign ministers, Siniora delivered an incredibly emotional speech that became one of the defining moments of the war.

Choking back tears, he broke down twice during the address. He said: "Our 'Arabness' is unconditional. Your support is your duty and responsibility."

Imploring fellow Arab countries to help Lebanon, Siniora said, "The confidence I'm speaking to you with is based on the sorrows of widowed mothers, dead children, and the cries of the displaced... a setback that has set our country and your country Lebanon decades into the past."

However, the Arab foreign ministers did not dare to issue an ultimatum to Israel to stop crimes in Lebanon, or it would face consequences. However, neither those days, nor these days, does Israel take the Arab world seriously. It has even made the UAE subservient. 

However, 20 years later the situation has fundamentally changed. The joint U.S.-Israeli war on Iran in February 2026 has inadvertently helped the Islamic Republic to set the rules of engagement.

In its ceasefire agreement with the U.S., which went into effect in April, Iran linked a halt to Israeli raids on Beirut as a precondition if the ceasefire is going to hold.

However, Israel violated the truce by bombarding the Dahiyeh region of Beirut on Sunday, June 8. The bombardment left analysts, politicians and military experts around the world, especially those in the Arab and Western world, guessing what would be Iran’s response. Some firmly believed that Iran would not endanger the truce that might lead to another full-fledged war with Israel and the U.S. for the sake of Lebanon.

However, to the surprise of the skeptics, on Sunday night Iran responded to the attack on Beirut by firing about 10 ballistic missiles at Israel, including striking the Ramat David Airbase where Israeli warplanes took off and struck Beirut.

More than two decades of military threats against Iran by Israel and the U.S. for its UN-monitored nuclear program made Iran promote its defensive and offensive power and turn the country into a great power that imposes its conditions on the U.S. and disciplines Israel.

Compare the prevalent conditions these days with the year 2006, in which Prime Minister Siniora tearfully implored the Arab nations to prevent the Israeli massacre of Lebanese and destruction of the country, but no tangible move emerged.