Beirut/Tehran, November 24, 2025 — Iran issued a sharp condemnation on Monday after Israel carried out a targeted airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs the previous day, killing Hezbollah’s senior military commander Haytham Ali Tabatabai and four other operatives. Tehran described the operation as a “cowardly assassination” and a blatant breach of the November 2024 ceasefire that had halted more than a year of open warfare between Israel and the Lebanese militant group.
In an official statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry declared that it “strongly condemns the cowardly assassination of the great commander of the Lebanese Islamic Resistance, the martyr Haytham Ali Tabatabai,” labeling the attack a terrorist act and a war crime that violated Lebanon’s sovereignty and the terms of the truce. Iran urged the international community to hold Israel accountable and warned that such actions threaten to unravel the fragile calm.
The strike took place around midday on November 23 in the densely populated Dahiyeh district, a longtime Hezbollah stronghold. Lebanese health authorities reported that an Israeli warplane fired missiles at a residential building in Haret Hreik, collapsing several floors and wounding more than two dozen civilians, including women and children. Hezbollah quickly confirmed the death of Tabatabai—known inside the organization by his nom de guerre “Sayyid Abu Ali”—calling him a “great jihadi leader” and pledging that his martyrdom would only strengthen the group’s resolve.
Tabatabai, born in Beirut in 1968 to a Lebanese mother and an Iranian father, was one of Hezbollah’s most experienced and secretive field commanders. He had led the elite Radwan Force, coordinated operations in Syria and Yemen, and more recently oversaw the southern front and efforts to rebuild the group’s military capabilities after the devastating 2023–2024 war with Israel. Israeli officials described him as Hezbollah’s de facto chief of staff and the highest-ranking military figure after political leader Naim Qassem.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed they had deliberately targeted Tabatabai, stating the strike was based on precise intelligence and carried out to prevent him from reconstituting Hezbollah’s arsenal in violation of the ceasefire and UN Security Council Resolution 1701. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the operation, calling Tabatabai a “mass murderer” responsible for attacks on Israelis and Americans over decades.
This was the most senior Hezbollah figure killed since the U.S.- and French-brokered ceasefire took effect on November 27, 2024. That agreement required Hezbollah fighters to withdraw north of the Litani River, the Lebanese army to deploy in the south, and Israeli forces to eventually pull back from occupied positions. While both sides have accused each other of repeated violations since then, the strike on central Beirut marked a significant escalation, being the first direct attack on the capital in months.
For Iran, Hezbollah’s primary backer, the loss is another severe blow at a time when its regional network is under unprecedented strain. The group has been trying to recover from the 2023–2024 conflict that killed thousands of its fighters and destroyed large parts of its missile stockpile and border infrastructure. The subsequent fall of longtime ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria in December 2024 severed the vital overland supply corridor from Iran, leaving Hezbollah more isolated and logistically constrained than at any point in its history.
Iran itself is still reeling from the brief but intense “Twelve-Day War” with Israel in June 2025, during which Israeli and U.S. strikes heavily damaged its nuclear facilities and killed senior IRGC commanders. Combined with the loss of the Syrian route and the weakening of other proxies, Tehran’s ability to project power through Hezbollah has been significantly diminished.
Hezbollah officials have indicated they are studying possible responses but have so far refrained from large-scale retaliation, aware that another full-scale war could prove catastrophic given their current state. Lebanese political leaders, meanwhile, have called for restraint and renewed commitment to the ceasefire, emphasizing the need to avoid dragging the country back into conflict.
As funerals for Haytham Ali Tabatabai and the other slain fighters take place in Beirut, the region is once again on edge. The killing has exposed how fragile the November 2024 truce remains and how quickly targeted operations can threaten to ignite a broader confrontation, even as both Israel and Hezbollah appear wary of returning to all-out war.
