Iranian delegation attends Hezbollah leaders’ funeral in Beirut

Iran’s foreign minister and parliament speaker traveled to Beirut to attend the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, the slain Secretary General of Hezbollah, and his deputy.

Abbas Araghchi and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, along with several Lebanese politicians and leaders of Iran-backed groups, will attend the ceremony.

Lebanese media said Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed a desire to attend but did not receive an invitation.

Iranian state media said that family members of the late President Ebrahim Raisi and former Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who were killed in a helicopter crash last year along with several government officials, also traveled to Lebanon as part of an official delegation of around 40 representatives.

Araghchi said: “Many people in Iran wanted to participate today to bid farewell to these two heroes of the resistance. The funeral will show that Hezbollah remains strong, loyal to its ideals, and that the struggle will continue.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei issued a message for Nasrallah’s funeral, honoring him as a pioneering leader of the resistance whose legacy will endure. He also praised Safieddine as a vital figure in Lebanon’s resistance, offering prayers for them and all fallen fighters.

Khamenei added that “the resistance against usurpation and oppression will continue until its goals are achieved.”

Hezbollah, designated a terrorist organization by countries such as the US and UK, is currently in a fragile US-French brokered ceasefire with Israel, while both sides allege continued violations.

Last year, while thousands of projectiles being fired by Hezbollah to Israel in allegiance with Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza, hundreds of Hezbollah operatives were killed by Israel, including the assassination of its decades-long leader, Nasrallah.

He was killed in a targeted airstrike targeting Hezbollah’s command center in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Hundreds more operatives were also seriously injured in a two-day operation in which Israel targeted pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to the group's members.

Ahead of Nasrallah’s burial, the Lebanese government extended the suspension of flights to and from Iran indefinitely.

The Washington Post reported that with the cancellation of Iranian passenger flights, Hezbollah supporters are traveling through Iraq to reach Beirut.

The funeral procession for Nasrallah and Safi al-Din is set to begin Sunday at a sports stadium in southern Beirut. Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s current Secretary General, is expected to deliver a speech.

The US Embassy in Beirut has advised its citizens to avoid areas surrounding the funeral, including the airport.

Once Iran’s most powerful regional proxy armed militia, Hezbollah was founded with the support of the Revolutionary Guards in 1982 but suffered heavy losses in last year’s war, with Israel significantly weakening its military and political power.

While Tehran remains its key backer, the group’s diminished strength has raised questions about its ability to project power as it once did.