Iran’s new president vows to back Hezbollah and other terror groups

From Iran’s perspective these are not terror groups but “resistance.”

 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES Masoud Pezeshkian (right) and Saeed Jalili ​attend an election debate at a television studio in Tehran, on Monday. (photo credit: Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting/West Asia News Agency/Reuters)
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES Masoud Pezeshkian (right) and Saeed Jalili ​attend an election debate at a television studio in Tehran, on Monday.
(photo credit: Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting/West Asia News Agency/Reuters)

Iranian state media reported Tuesday about a letter from Iran’s President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah promising continued support for Hezbollah and other armed groups targeting Israel.

According to Iran’s IRNA media the letter is “a clear message from the Islamic Republic to all the resistance groups in the region that Tehran will continue to support the Islamic resistance in West Asia, an Iranian expert of international affairs argued.” West Asia refers to the Middle East in this context.

According to the same media report, Iran’s goal is “support for resistance and jihadi groups.”

Iran is pushing back against western media reports that portray Pezeshkian as a reformer or moderate. The report speaks of “unfounded claims such as the end of Iran’s support for resistance following Pezeshkian’s victory.” In fact IRNA now praises the “wise move taken by the president-elect in sending a letter to Nasrallah” which has now “foiled such conspiracies.”

 A man votes in the run-off presidential election between Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili in Tehran, Iran, July 5, 2024.  (credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)
A man votes in the run-off presidential election between Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili in Tehran, Iran, July 5, 2024. (credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)

Iranian policy remains unchanged 

Iranian regime media sees this as a promise to support what they call “resistance” groups sanctioned as terrorist groups by the US and other western countries.

The overall context of this development is that Iran’s policies will remain unchanged and the attacks on Israel will continue. Even this week the Houthis, Hezbollah, and Iraqi militias carried out attacks targeting Israel. There are also tensions on the Syrian side of the Golan, illustrating how Iran continues to mobilize numerous frontlines against Israel.