Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Sunday that the US naval blockade against Iran and Washington’s support for Israel have turned American and Israeli bases and interests in the region into “legitimate targets,” Anadolu reports.
In a post on the US social media company X following an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs that killed at least two people and injured 11 others, Qalibaf accused the US of enabling the Israeli assaults.
“The naval blockade against the Iranian nation and America’s green light today to the Zionist regime (Israel) turn American and regime bases and assets in the region into legitimate targets,” he wrote.
“Our armed forces are always ready to respond,” he added.
Qalibaf also accused the US and Israel of violating ceasefire arrangements and rejecting diplomatic solutions.
“They are neither committed to a ceasefire nor believe in dialogue,” he said, adding that Tel Aviv and Washington “only understand the language of force.”
The Israeli army claimed that airstrikes in Beirut targeted a Hezbollah infrastructure facility in the area.
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Israel’s public broadcaster KAN said Israel informed the US of the attack before its aircraft bombed the area.
Sunday’s strikes were the first in the Lebanese capital since a ceasefire was extended on June 3 following US-mediated talks between Israel and Lebanon in Washington.
Israel has continued carrying out airstrikes in Lebanon since a Hezbollah cross-border attack in early March, killing over 3,600 people and wounding more than 11,000 others since March 2.
Tensions in the Middle East have escalated since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. Tehran retaliated with attacks targeting Israel and US allies in the Gulf, alongside the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
A ceasefire took effect on April 8 through Pakistani mediation, but subsequent talks in Islamabad failed to produce a lasting agreement.
Following stalled negotiations mediated by Islamabad, the US has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports since April 13, including those located along the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
