Khamenei advisers demand Lebanon in ceasefire, Iran’s control of Strait of Hormuz
by Vaughn Cockayne · The Washington TimesTwo senior advisers to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Monday that Iran would retain control over the Strait of Hormuz and would not tolerate Israel’s continued offensive in Lebanon.
Mohammad Mokhber, a member of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council and an adviser to Mr. Khamenei, said that any ceasefire agreement that does not take into account Iran’s allied groups is irrelevant.
The comments came after Mr. Mokhber met with Abdullah Safi al-Din, Hezbollah’s envoy to Iran, in Tehran on Monday.
Hezbollah, a terrorist group financed and armed by Iran, has been in active conflict with Israel after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed by U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Feb. 28. Hezbollah has repeatedly launched missiles and drones into Israeli territory ever since.
The Israeli military has since launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon in hopes of creating a large buffer zone between the two countries.
Iran has insisted that Lebanon was included in the agreement that resulted in a ceasefire deal with the U.S. in April and has called on Israel to cease its offensive or risk further attacks.
While the U.S. has facilitated productive talks between Lebanon and Israel over the past month, Hezbollah has insisted that it would not abide by any provisions agreed to during diplomatic meetings.
Mohsen Rezaei, former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander and senior adviser to Mr. Khamenei, reiterated that Lebanon should be included in the ceasefire and that Israel’s operations are threatening to bring further chaos to the Middle East.
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He also lumped in the U.S.’s ongoing naval blockade of Iranian ports as another friction point.
“We will not allow the maritime blockade to continue, and an escalation of tensions in Lebanon will not be tolerated. The patience of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran has its limits,” Mr. Rezaei wrote on X Monday.
Negotiations between the U.S. and Iran continue to falter, and the standing ceasefire between the two appears over in every way but name.
Both sides traded attacks over the weekend, with Iranian forces shooting down an MQ-1 Predator drone and the U.S. attacking command and control sites in response.
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Vaughn Cockayne
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