Iran Vows Retaliation for Israeli Killing of IRGC Commander in Beirut

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi condemned the killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guards deputy commander, Abbas Nilforoushan, by Israeli strikes in Beirut. Hezbollah's chief also died in the attack. Araqchi and other Iranian officials vowed retaliation and warned the U.S. of repercussions. The incident strengthens the Axis of Resistance's resolve against Israel.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi declared on Sunday that the killing of an Iranian Revolutionary Guards deputy commander in Beirut by Israel was a 'horrible crime' that would not go unanswered.

Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan was killed in the Israeli strikes on Beirut on Friday, which also claimed the life of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. 'There is no doubt that this horrible crime committed by the Zionist regime (Israel) will not go unanswered,' Araqchi stated in a message to the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Major General Hossein Salami.

Earlier on Sunday, Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf announced that Iran-allied armed groups would continue to confront Israel with Tehran's support following the killing of Nasrallah, as reported by Iranian state media. The Axis of Resistance, founded with Iranian backing, includes groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthis, and various Shi'ite Muslim armed factions in Iraq and Syria.

'We will not hesitate to go to any level in order to help the resistance,' Qalibaf affirmed, while also issuing a warning to the United States. 'The U.S. is complicit in all of these crimes and...has to accept the repercussions,' he asserted. Iran's Vice-President for Strategic Affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, commented on Nasrallah's assassination by stating that Iran would retaliate at a time of its choosing.

(With inputs from agencies.)