«The danger does exist that the fire of events that are taking place (in Lebanon) will expand to the entire region,» he said in an interview with CNN. «We must not allow for Lebanon to become another Gaza at the hands of Israel,» Pezeshkian noted.
He warned that the current events could spiral into a regional conflict, which «can be dangerous for the future of the world and planet Earth itself, so we must prevent the ongoing criminal acts being committed by Israel.»
«Hezbollah cannot stand alone against a country that is being defended and supported and supplied by Western countries,» the Iranian president added.
The conflict between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah movement escalated again after multiple explosions of communication devices occurred in Lebanon on September 17 and 18. Hezbollah blamed the explosions on Israel; the Jewish state’s authorities did not openly comment on what happened but announced increased military operations in the north.
Later, the Israeli Air Force started to carry out massive strikes on the border areas in southern Lebanon; on September 20, aircraft attacked targets in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, killing 16 Hezbollah military commanders.
Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that the country’s Air Force had conducted strikes on 1,300 Hezbollah military targets across Lebanon in the previous 24 hours.
The Al Mayadeen broadcaster reported that according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, the Israeli strikes had killed over 300 people and left more than 1,200 injured.