Iran Warns Israeli Strike on Beirut Could Trigger Retaliation Against U.S. and Israeli Assets

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Iran's chief negotiator warned on Sunday that an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs and the ongoing U.S. blockade of Iranian ports could provoke retaliation against American and Israeli interests in the region.

In a post on social media, Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused Washington of giving Israel the "green light" to carry out strikes that targeted two locations in the Lebanese capital.

Referring to the attack and what he described as the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, Ghalibaf said the actions "turn the bases and assets of America and the (Israeli) regime in the region into legitimate targets," adding that Iran's armed forces "are free to act."

The warning came after Israel launched airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday without prior warning, only days after a ceasefire agreement brokered in Washington took effect and despite a U.S. request urging Israel not to strike the Lebanese capital.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the operation was a response to rockets fired toward northern Israel by the Iran-backed Hezbollah group earlier in the day. According to the statement, the strikes targeted Hezbollah command centers in the densely populated southern suburbs of Beirut.

Hezbollah did not immediately claim responsibility for the rocket attacks on northern Israel, while there was no immediate comment from the White House and no casualties were initially reported.

The latest escalation has raised concerns over the future of the fragile ceasefire. Iran has repeatedly warned that attacks on Beirut could reignite a wider regional conflict, as Pakistan seeks to revive negotiations between Tehran and Washington. Iranian officials have insisted that any future agreement should include an end to the war in Lebanon.

Although Lebanese and Israeli officials recently renewed a ceasefire agreement in Washington in an effort to halt months of fighting, hostilities have continued. Israel has struck Beirut's southern suburbs several times since the first truce took effect in April, while clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces and daily attacks in southern Lebanon have persisted.

Earlier this week, diplomatic efforts led by the United States temporarily prevented a planned Israeli strike on Beirut after Hezbollah claimed attacks on northern Israel. Sunday's airstrikes, however, marked a renewed challenge to those ceasefire efforts and heightened fears of a broader regional confrontation.