Iran official says Hezbollah ‘more essential than bread and water,’ angering Lebanon
The existence of Iran-backed Hezbollah is “more essential than bread and water for Lebanon,” a senior advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in an interview published on Wednesday, prompting sharp criticism from Beirut.
Given Israel’s “desire to kill and plunder other lands today, Hezbollah’s existence is more essential than bread and water for Lebanon,” Ali Akbar Velayati told Iran’s state-linked Tasnim news agency.
He said Israel’s “repeated violations of the ceasefire and attacks on Lebanon” have demonstrated “what the consequences of Hezbollah’s disarmament would be” for Lebanon.
Iran has strongly opposed Lebanon’s government plan to disarm Hezbollah, a stance Beirut previously denounced as a “flagrant and unacceptable interference.” In August, Velayati described the disarmament proposal as capitulation to “the will of the United States and Israel.”
In his latest remarks, Velayati claimed Hezbollah has “repeatedly supported and saved the Lebanese people and put Israel in its place,” and said Tehran would continue backing Hezbollah and the wider “resistance front,” a network of Iran-backed armed groups across the Middle East.
Lebanon responds
The comments drew swift condemnation in Lebanon.
Addressing his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi wrote on X: “I genuinely wanted to believe your assertion that Iran does not interfere in Lebanon’s internal affairs, until your supreme leader’s advisor appeared to enlighten us on what matters in Lebanon and warned us of the consequences of disarming Hezbollah.
“Let me clarify the following: what is more important to us than water and bread is our sovereignty, our freedom, and the independence of our internal decision-making, free from ideological slogans and transnational regional agendas that have devastated our country and continue to drag us further into ruin.”
Samir Geagea, the country’s leading Christian politician, said Iran had no right to involve itself in Lebanese affairs.
“Mr. Khamenei and his esteemed advisor, if you both cared about the affairs of the Iranians and their sufferings, that would have been better for all of us,” Geagea wrote on X.
“Lebanon is an independent state with its own constitution, governed by a Lebanese authority elected popularly and democratically, and you have no right to interfere in its affairs.”
Hezbollah has been significantly weakened by its latest confrontation with Israel and by the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, a key ally of Tehran and the group. With its influence eroding, Lebanon’s new government has moved to further constrain the organization.
On Sunday, Israel killed Hezbollah’s military chief, Haytham Ali Tabtabai, in a strike on a southern suburb of Beirut. He is the most senior Hezbollah commander to be killed by Israel since the start of the November 2024 ceasefire, which was aimed at ending more than a year of hostilities.
Israel has continued to strike inside Lebanon since the truce, saying it is targeting Hezbollah fighters and military sites.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) condemned Tabtabai’s killing on Monday, vowing a “crushing response.”
