Iran's Khamenei: Hezbollah is Lebanon's strongest defender against Israel

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has declared Hezbollah as the "strongest defender of Lebanon" in its confrontation with Israel.

In a statement published in Arabic on his X account, Khamenei stated, "Hezbollah remains today the strongest defender of Lebanon and the firmest shield against the Zionist entity's ambitions, which has long sought to divide Lebanon."

Khamenei's remarks came as he offered his "congratulations and condolences over the martyrdom of Hashem Safieddine," who was the head of Hezbollah's Executive Council and was confirmed by the group to have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut at the beginning of October.

In his statement, the Iranian leader emphasized that "the Islamic Republic will continue, as always, to support the fighters of Jerusalem and the resistance." 

He praised Hezbollah for preventing Lebanon's division and collapse and for thwarting the "threat posed by the occupying entity."

Khamenei also asserted that Hezbollah had successfully removed the threat of Israel occupying southern Lebanon, including regions such as the Litani River and Tyre, and annexing them to what he called "occupied Palestine."