Hezbollah chief says Iranian President Raisi was 'servant of his people'


  • English
  • Arabic

Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in Iran on Sunday, was a "servant of his people".

Iran is Hezbollah's key backer, providing it with weapons and funding. The powerful Lebanese armed group and political party has been engaged in near daily cross-border exchanges of fire with its nemesis Israel in south Lebanon since October 8.

It says it is carrying out the attacks in support of its embattled Palestinian ally Hamas, which is also backed by Iran, in the Gaza Strip.

The Hezbollah leader lauded the late Iranian president in a televised speech on Friday.

Mr Raisi, 63, and foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, 60, died in the helicopter crash near the border with Azerbaijan.

They were the most senior Iranian officials to die since the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds chief Qassem Soleimani was assassinated in a US drone strike in January 2020.

The impact on Hezbollah remains to be seen, but it is expected to be small if at all.

“It marks the loss of heavyweights of the regime, the two ideological supports of the current regime, close to the Supreme Leader, aligned with the Revolutionary Guards,” said Karim el Mufti, a professor of international relations at Sciences Po Paris.

Yet “they’re not irreplaceable”, he added.

Mr El Mufti explained that Iran is not in a situation where the president is at odds with the Supreme Leader or the Revolutionary Guard, making the stakes of the elections less crucial.

“For Hezbollah, the biggest tragedy was the assassination of Mr Soleimani. And that did not stop them.”

“Against this backdrop, I don’t see how Israel could really exploit the situation in the war.”

More than 300 Hezbollah fighters have died since the conflict broke out, the worst since the group fought a deadly month-long war with Israel in 2006.

UAE v IRELAND

All matches start at 10am, and will be played in Abu Dhabi

1st ODI, Friday, January 8

2nd ODI, Sunday, January 10

3rd ODI, Tuesday, January 12

4th ODI, Thursday, January 14

The 24-man squad:

Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Simon Mignolet (Liverpool), Koen Casteels (VfL Wolfsburg).

Defenders: Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham), Thomas Meunier (Paris Saint-Germain), Thomas Vermaelen (Barcelona), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham), Dedryck Boyata (Celtic), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City).

Midfielders: Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United), Axel Witsel (Tianjin Quanjian), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Nacer Chadli (West Bromwich Albion), Leander Dendoncker (Anderlecht), Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Youri Tielemans (Monaco), Mousa Dembele (Tottenham Hotspur).

Forwards: Michy Batshuayi (Chelsea/Dortmund), Yannick Carrasco (Dalian Yifang), Adnan Januzaj (Real Sociedad), Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United), Dries Mertens (Napoli).

Standby player: Laurent Ciman (Los Angeles FC).

MATCH INFO

England 19 (Try: Tuilagi; Cons: Farrell; Pens: Ford (4)

New Zealand 7 (Try: Savea; Con: Mo'unga)

Updated: May 26, 2024, 7:27 PM`