Tehran; August 2026: Iran has strongly advocated Lebanon’s legal and legitimate right to use all means to defend its existence against Israeli aggression following an Israeli massacre that claimed the lives of at least 11 people, including 03 children, in the southern Lebanese region of Nabatieh.
Today (Sunday – 16th August 2026; IST), Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei has strongly condemned the latest Israeli attacks that targeted the members of the same family. Baghaei reminded how the attacks took place amid the regime’s continued acts of aggression and violations against the Lebanese national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson has called for the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territories under occupation, while praising the Lebanese people’s honorable resistance in the face of Israeli aggression. He has further criticised the continued silence and inaction of the United Nations Security Council vis-à-vis the blatant violations of international law and international humanitarian law.
Concluding his remarks, the spokesperson underlined the Islamic Republic’s solidarity with Lebanon in defending its national sovereignty, independence, and dignity.
Earlier, Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement had likewise condemned the ‘brutal massacre’. “This deliberate crime adds to the enemy’s long record of massacres, bloodshed against the Lebanese people, the destruction of their homes, the devastation of their farmland, and the erasure of entire villages”, the movement had said. The group had also said the regime and the United States – Israel’s biggest supporter, “bear responsibility for this continued aggression and violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty”.
Amid the aggression, the US and Israel have been pushing for Hezbollah’s disarmament, including through a framework agreement signed between Lebanon and Israel on June 26. The movement has repeatedly rejected calls to disarm, saying the US-mediated framework agreement violates the Lebanese constitution.
Israeli forces have carried out airstrikes, artillery fire, and phosphorus shelling against areas in southern Lebanon, with heavy clashes and intense gunfire reported around the Ali al-Taher Heights in the region’s Nabatieh Governorate. According to Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen network, Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes on an area between Ali al-Taher and al-Dabsha in Nabatieh.
At the same time, Israeli forces subjected the Ali al-Taher Heights to heavy machinegun fire. The network further reported that Israeli artillery units targeted the mountainous area with phosphorus shells.
Lebanese sources also reported heavy clashes and intense gunfire around the heights, saying the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah’s fighters were trying to prevent the invaders from advancing towards the area. The reports came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued threats against Lebanon. Netanyahu has accused the Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire and attacking Israeli forces inside the “Yellow Line”. The Israeli Prime Minister has further reiterated that the Israeli military would continue its incursions in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip in accordance with relevant directives without acknowledging the military’s persisting violations against the country and the blockaded coastal sliver.
Today (Sunday – 16th August 2026) Israeli army press has reported that 03 Israeli troops have been wounded after an explosive-laden drone struck an Israeli forces’ concentration in the Ali al-Taher Heights. According to the report, all 03 belonged to the Yahalom special engineering unit, with 01 sustaining very critical injuries and the other 02 being seriously wounded.
The press said the drone was the third of its kind launched towards the mountain range by Hezbollah in recent weeks, while previous drones had reportedly been used for intelligence and reconnaissance missions in the area. Hezbollah has condemned the “brutal massacre” while pledging to retaliate.
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