Iran’s President Denounces Israeli Attacks on Tehran’s Regional Allies

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian looks on, on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian looks on, on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 24, 2024. (Reuters)
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Iran’s President Denounces Israeli Attacks on Tehran’s Regional Allies

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian looks on, on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian looks on, on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 24, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel should not be allowed to attack countries in the Iran-aligned "Axis of Resistance" one after the other, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday.

Israel said it had bombed Houthi targets in Yemen on Sunday, expanding its confrontation with Iran's allies in the region after killing the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday in an escalating conflict in Lebanon.

Pezeshkian, in comments carried by state media, said Lebanon should be supported.

"Lebanese fighters should not be left alone in this battle so that the Zionist regime (Israel) does not attack Axis of Resistance countries one after the other," he said.

An Iranian Revolutionary Guards deputy commander, Abbas Nilforoushan, was also killed in the attack that killed the Hezbollah leader in Beirut.

"We cannot accept such actions and they will not be left unanswered. A decisive reaction is necessary," Pezeshkian said.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani condemned the Israeli strikes in Yemen, saying in a statement that they had targeted "civilian infrastructure" such as a power plant and fuel tanks.

"Iran once again warns about the consequences of the Zionist regime's (Israel) warmongering on regional and international peace and security," spokesperson Nasser Kanaani added.

In another Israeli attack on Yemen in July, fighter jets bombed "dual-use sites such as energy infrastructure" in Hodeidah, with Israel's military spokesperson saying the port was used by the Houthis to receive Iranian weapons shipments.



Wildfire in Southern Greece Leaves 2 People Dead

 Firefighters walk on a road as a wild fire rages in the village of Ano Loutro, south of Athens, on September 30, 2024. (AFP)
Firefighters walk on a road as a wild fire rages in the village of Ano Loutro, south of Athens, on September 30, 2024. (AFP)
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Wildfire in Southern Greece Leaves 2 People Dead

 Firefighters walk on a road as a wild fire rages in the village of Ano Loutro, south of Athens, on September 30, 2024. (AFP)
Firefighters walk on a road as a wild fire rages in the village of Ano Loutro, south of Athens, on September 30, 2024. (AFP)

Two people died overnight in a large wildfire burning through forestland in Greece, near a seaside resort in the country's south, authorities said.

The fire service said about 350 firefighters, assisted by 18 water-dropping aircraft, managed to largely bring the blaze near Xylokastro in the Peloponnese region under control early on Monday.

Scattered fires burned in the area, but the initial large front had been put out, officials said.

Half a dozen villages were ordered evacuated overnight as a precaution after the blaze broke out on Sunday. There was no threat to Xylokastro. The flames were fanned by very strong winds blowing through forests left tinder-dry by a warm spring and hot summer attributed to climate change.

Authorities said the two dead men were believed to be local residents who were declared missing late Sunday. No one else was reported missing. There were no immediate reports of burned homes in the affected area, located some 150 kilometers (93 miles) southwest of Greece's capital, Athens.

Another wildfire near Andravida, in the western Peloponnese was also brought under control on Monday, but firefighters remained on alert in the area for flareups, the fire service said.

Greece, like other southern European countries, is plagued by destructive wildfires every summer that have been exacerbated by global warming. Over the past few months, authorities have had to cope with more than 4,500 wildfires in countryside left parched by a protracted drought and early summer heatwaves, in what was considered the most dangerous fire season in two decades.

A big investment in extra water-bombing aircraft, warning drones and other equipment have enabled firefighters to extinguish most blazes shortly after they broke out. However, in August, a ferocious wildfire swept through the mountains north of Athens, destroying scores of homes and killing one person.

Still, authorities say this summer's expanses that have been burned are about 25% less in size than the annual average of the past 20 years.