TEHRAN – Ali Akbar Velayati, Senior Advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution on International Affairs, said Israel’s latest attacks on Lebanon demonstrate more clearly than ever the vital role of Hezbollah in safeguarding the country’s security and territorial integrity.

Speaking on Monday, Velayati condemned Israel’s repeated violations of the November 2024 ceasefire and its widening strikes on Lebanese territory, warning that the regime’s conduct shows that “for Lebanon, the existence of Hezbollah is more essential than daily bread.”

Velayati’s remarks came after Israel carried out a heavy airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday, assassinating Hajj Haitham Ali Tabatabai, one of Hezbollah’s most senior and influential commanders. The attack marked the most serious Israeli breach of the ceasefire to date and the first time since the agreement that Israeli warplanes have struck the Lebanese capital.

He said the assassination—conducted in the heart of a densely populated civilian area—was a “flagrant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty” and further proof that Israel “respects no international obligations.”

Arab media described the attack as “treacherous,” noting that it hit residential buildings, killed at least five people, and injured 28 others. Scenes from the aftermath showed shocked residents, some covered in blood, fleeing damaged homes.

According to Velayati, Israel’s strategy of targeted killings aims to create fear and advance its “illegitimate objectives,” but Lebanon has repeatedly demonstrated its resolve. He said the assassination of a figure of Tabatabai’s stature has only strengthened the Lebanese people’s understanding of the role played by the Resistance.

He emphasized that Israel’s violation of the ceasefire “proved to everyone” what disarming Hezbollah would mean for Lebanon: “Israel has shown that without the Resistance, Lebanon would be defenseless in the face of aggression.”

Tabatabai served as Hezbollah’s chief of staff following the deaths of senior commanders last year. As one of the group’s early founders, he played a decisive role in forming Hezbollah’s military structure, ideological development, and resistance strategy. His assassination represents a major loss for the movement but also highlights, in Velayati’s view, “the depth of Israel’s fear of the Resistance’s capabilities.”

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) strongly condemned the assassination, calling it a “cowardly terrorist crime” that exposes Israel’s “weakness” when confronted by the Resistance Axis.

In a statement Monday, the IRGC said the Zionist regime targeted “one of Hezbollah’s steadfast commanders,” adding that such crimes will not hinder the progress of the Resistance.

Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, also expressed condolences on X, saying that while the martyrs “fulfilled their duties,” Netanyahu “continues his adventurism to make clear that confronting this illegitimate entity is the only path forward.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry likewise condemned the attack as a “gross violation” of the ceasefire and a “brutal assault on Lebanon’s sovereignty,” stressing the need to hold Israeli leaders accountable for war crimes.

Velayati said Hezbollah has repeatedly defended and rescued the Lebanese people from Israeli aggression while forcing “the occupying regime” to retreat from its objectives. Given Israel’s “appetite for killing and plundering,” he said, the Resistance’s presence is “more vital for Lebanon today than food and water.”

He added that the positions taken by Lebanese officials in the past 24 hours indicate that the government in Beirut increasingly recognizes this reality and rejects what he described as the “empty rhetoric” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The strike on Beirut comes as some external powers and Lebanese political groups have spent a year promoting the idea that Hezbollah’s disarmament would bring calm. However, Sunday’s attack has decisively undercut that notion.