Support for Hezbollah in Tehran billboard
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been transferred to a secure location inside the country with heightened security measures in place, two regional officials briefed by Tehran told Reuters.
The sources said Iran was in constant contact with Lebanon's Hezbollah and other regional proxy groups to determine the next step after Hezbollah confirmed that Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a strike on south Beirut on Friday.
Israel and Hezbollah confirmed that the Hezbollah leader was killed in the attack on the group's underground command center in the Dahieh sector of the Lebanese capital. In a direct warning to Iran, a senior Israeli official said any attack from the Islamic Republic would be responded to.
A senior member of the IRGC was also confirmed to have been killed in the strike. According to the military, some 80 tons of explosives including bunker-busting bombs were used in the strike on the facility while Hezbollah's leadership and military commanders were on site.
The Saudi Asharq Al-Awsat newspapers reported that Khamenei said Israel was too small to cause any significant damage to its primary Lebanese-based proxy. He said Lebanon would retaliate for the attack and called on Muslims to unite in support of Lebanon and Hezbollah, using any means possible.