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Iran Says Expects Hezbollah to Hit Deeper Inside Israel

Hezbollah fighters. (File photo/AFP)
Hezbollah fighters. (File photo/AFP)
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Iran Says Expects Hezbollah to Hit Deeper Inside Israel

Hezbollah fighters. (File photo/AFP)
Hezbollah fighters. (File photo/AFP)

Iran said on Saturday it expects Lebanon's Tehran-backed Hezbollah group to hit deeper inside Israel and no longer be confined to military targets after Israel killed the Hezbollah military commander.

Hezbollah has been exchanging near-daily fire with Israeli forces, saying it is targeting military positions over the border, since its Palestinian ally Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, sparking war in Gaza, AFP reported.

But a strike claimed by Israel in an overcrowded residential area of South Beirut changed the calculus, Iran's mission to the United Nations said.

"We expect... Hezbollah to choose more targets and (strike) deeper in its response," said the mission quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

"Secondly, that it will not limit its response to military targets."

The strike on Tuesday killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr. According to Lebanon's health ministry, five civilians -- three women and two children -- also died.

Israel said Shukr was responsible for rocket fire that killed 12 youths in the annexed Golan Heights, and had directed Hezbollah's attacks on Israel since the Gaza war began.

"Hezbollah and the (Israeli) regime had observed certain lines", including limiting strikes to border areas and military targets, Iran's mission said.

The Beirut strike crossed that line, it added.

Hours after Shukr's killing, the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in a pre-dawn "hit" on his accommodation in Tehran, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said.

On Thursday, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said Israel and "those who are behind it must await our inevitable response" to the killings of both Shukr and Haniyeh.

Iran and Hamas have also vowed to retaliate.

In Iran, the voices clamouring for revenge have intensified since Haniyeh's killing.

On Saturday, the ultraconservative Kayhan daily said retaliatory operations were expected to be "more diverse, more dispersed and impossible to intercept."

"This time, areas such as Tel Aviv and Haifa and the strategic centers and especially residences of some officials involved in the recent crimes are among the targets," Kayhan in an opinion piece.

Late Friday, an Iranian state TV presenter anticipated "astounding and major events" taking place "in the coming hours" in Israel.

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Russia’s Top Diplomat Praises Trump’s Views on Ukraine Conflict

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov smiles during his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov smiles during his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)
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Russia’s Top Diplomat Praises Trump’s Views on Ukraine Conflict

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov smiles during his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov smiles during his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)

Russia’s top diplomat said Tuesday that Moscow is open for talks with President-elect Donald Trump and praised him for pointing to NATO's plan to embrace Ukraine as a root cause of the nearly 3-year-old conflict.

Any prospective peace talks should involve broader arrangements for security in Europe, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at his annual news conference, while adding that Moscow is open to discussing security guarantees for Kyiv.

Lavrov specifically praised Trump's comments earlier this month in which he said that NATO’s plans to open its doors to Ukraine had led to the hostilities.

Trump said Russia had it "written in stone" that Ukraine's membership in NATO should never be allowed, but the Biden administration had sought to expand the military alliance to Russia's doorstep. Trump added that, "I could understand their feelings about that."

Trump's comments echoed Moscow’s rhetoric which has described its "special military operation" in Ukraine launched in February 2022 as a response to planned NATO membership for Kyiv and an effort to protect Russian speakers. Ukraine and its allies have denounced Russia's action as an unprovoked act of aggression.

"NATO did exactly what it had promised not to do, and Trump said that," Lavrov said. "It marked the first such candid acknowledgement not only from a US but any Western leader that NATO had lied when they signed numerous documents. They were used as a cover while NATO has expanded to our borders in violation of the agreements."

The West has dismissed that assessment. Before the conflict, Russia had demanded a legal guarantee that Ukraine be denied NATO entry, knowing the alliance has never excluded potential membership for any European country but had no immediate plan to start Ukraine down that road. Russia said NATO expansion would undermine its security, but Washington and its allies argued the alliance didn’t threaten Moscow

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged his Western allies to invite Kyiv to join NATO, or, at the very least, offer comprehensive security guarantees that would prevent any future Russian attacks. The alliance’s 32 member countries say Ukraine will join one day, but not until the fighting ends.

Trump has reaffirmed his intention to broker peace in Ukraine, declaring earlier this month that "Putin wants to meet" and that such a meeting is being set up. In the past, he has criticized US military aid for Ukraine and even vowed to end the conflict in a single day if elected.

Lavrov emphasized that Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly declared his openness for talks with Trump, adding that Moscow looks forward to hearing Trump’s view on Ukraine after he takes office.

Lavrov also praised comments by Trump's pick for national security adviser, Mike Waltz, who said Sunday it's unrealistic to expect that Ukraine could drive Russian forces "from every inch of Ukrainian soil."

"The very fact that people have increasingly started to mention the realities on the ground deserves welcome," Lavrov said during his annual news conference un Moscow.

In its final days, the Biden administration is providing Kyiv with as much military support as it can, aiming to put Ukraine in the strongest position possible for any future negotiations. The US also introduced new sanctions on Russia's oil industry.

Lavrov described those efforts as an attempt by the Biden administration to "slam the door" and leave a difficult legacy for Trump. "The Democrats have a way of screwing things up for the incoming administration," he said.

He emphasized that any prospective peace talks must address Russia's security concerns and reflect a broad European security environment.

"Threats on the western flank, on our western borders, must be eliminated as one of the main reasons (of the conflict)," he said. "They can probably be eliminated only in the context of some broader agreements."

He added that Moscow is also open to discuss security guarantees for Kyiv, "for the country, which is now called Ukraine."

Lavrov was asked about Trump's comments in which he wouldn't rule out using force or economic pressure to make Greenland — a semiautonomous territory of Denmark — a part of the United States.

Lavrov emphasized that the people of Greenland must be asked what they want.

"For a start, it's necessary to listen to the Greenlanders," Lavrov said, noting that they have the right for self-determination if they believe that their interests aren't duly represented by Denmark.