FM Araghchi warns against aggression against Lebanon
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Abbas Araghchi denied claims by the media that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian announced Iran's readiness to reduce tensions with "Israel."
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Rescuers inspect the debris at the site of an overnight Israeli strike on a pharmacy in the southern Lebanese village of Akbiyeh on September 24.(AFP)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi condemned the Israeli aggression on Lebanon on Tuesday, warning that the region is "on the brink of a large-scale war."
During his meeting with his Italian counterpart on the sidelines of the UNGA, he told Antonio Tajani stressed that "the United States and Israel's allies must bear responsibility for the consequences of not stopping this entity."
#Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and #Italy Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani met on the sideline of the UNGA. pic.twitter.com/31a19GpQEs
— Iran Nuances (@IranNuances) September 24, 2024
Tajani reiterated the need for an urgent ceasefire and in Lebanon, stressing Italy's obligation to prevent any new escalation in Lebanon, particularly along the border.
Tajani recalled that the Blue Line, where UNIFIL operates, includes about a thousand Italian soldiers, and that he chaired an informal meeting of the G7 foreign ministers yesterday to present the main international files, "starting with the crisis in the Middle East."
Araghchi denied claims by the media that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian announced Iran's readiness to reduce tensions with "Israel," stressing that Iran stands with Lebanese and Palestinian people "in the face of Israeli brutality," noting that the crimes of "Israel", with the support of the United States, "are very clear to the world, and this brutality and criminal disregard must not continue."
On Monday, Pezeshkian told a roundtable of journalists in New York that "Israel" is attempting to provoke a larger war, explaining that "We know more than anyone else that if a larger war were to erupt in the Middle East, it will not benefit anyone throughout the world. It is Israel that seeks to create this wider conflict."
Pezeshkian alluded to "Israel's" assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and expressed that the West urged Iran not to respond, stressing, "We tried to not respond. They kept telling us we are within reach of peace, perhaps in a week or so."
"But we never reached that elusive peace. Every day Israel is committing more atrocities and killing more and more people -- old, young, men, women, children, hospitals, other facilities," Pezeshkian stressed.
"We always keep hearing, well, Hezbollah fired a rocket. If Hezbollah didn't even do that minimum, who would defend them?" he stated. "We keep being labeled as the perpetrators of insecurity. But look at the situation for where it is."
Pezeshkian accused Western powers of having double standards, claiming that violence "by one side is legitimate self-defense but it's terrorism and murder by the other."
Renewed Israeli airstrike on Beirut Southern Suburb kills 6, wounds 15
The Israeli occupation forces launched an airstrike on Tuesday on Ghobeiry, a locality within the Southern Suburbs of Beirut, in the second aggression of the sort within 24 hours in light of the ongoing onslaught on the country's south and eastern Beqaa region.
The airstrike destroyed three stories of a residential and populated six-story building, an Al Mayadeen correspondent reported.
#BREAKING | Al Mayadeen correspondent: 6 martyrs and 15 wounded in the initial toll of the Israeli aggression on the Ghobeiry area in the southern suburb of Beirut.pic.twitter.com/SmCzdEgrdw
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) September 24, 2024
As a result of the aggression six people were martyred and 15 were wounded, two of whom are in critical injuries, our correspondent added, noting that EMTs quickly mobilized to the area in hopes of reaching the affected civilians present.
The Israeli occupation on Monday escalated its aggression against Lebanon, launching an attack on the southern suburb of Beirut as part of its continued assault on various Lebanese regions and villages in the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon.
According to the National News Agency, Monday's attack targeted a building in the Beirut Southern Suburb of Bir al-Abed.
An Al Mayadeen correspondent reported that four missiles struck the building, though not all of them exploded. The initial reports indicate that seven people have been injured.
This marks the second attack on the Southern Suburb within two days. On Friday, Israeli forces targeted an eight-story residential building, killing 51 people, while dozens more were injured. Several individuals remain missing under the rubble.
The Israeli aggression on Lebanon has killed 558 citizens, including 50 children, and wounded 1,835 others, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said during a press conference on Tuesday.
According to Abiad, "the Israeli enemy's brutality led to the martyrdom of several members of medical and rescue teams."
Al Mayadeen's correspondent had reported over 1,000 Israeli airstrikes targeting the Lebanese South since "Israel" launched its extensive aggression on Monday.
