Grapevine

By Al Jazeera
Sep 20, 2024

Iran warns Israel of ‘crushing response’ after attacks on Hezbollah

Israel will face “a crushing response from the axis of resistance”, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, has told Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, according to state media.

Salami made the statement on Thursday after unprecedented attacks in the previous two days on Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies, which killed 37 people and wounded more than 2,900 when hundreds of devices were detonated almost simultaneously.

The “axis of resistance” refers to Iran-aligned armed groups in the Middle East, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis and Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces.

Lebanon and Hezbollah have blamed Israel for the attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday. Israel has not directly commented on the blasts, but security sources said they were probably carried out by its Mossad spy agency.