Hezbollah’s Secretary-General and leader Hassan Nasrallah left Lebanon for Iran, reportedly planning to move amid regional conflict, and it is unclear exactly when he will return to Lebanon.
The trusted source of the Kuwaiti Al-Jarida newspaper, who revealed that on Wednesday, even said that Nasrallah is meant to stay in Tehran for an indefinite time.
Intelligence services in Lebanon and neighboring countries have reportedly monitored extensive encrypted communications between the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah regarding this unprecedented move.
The move to Iran comes after the most recent assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh just east of Tehran. Tensions have risen in the region as Iranian officials blame Israel and threaten revenge. However, Lebanon has urged self-restraint to avoid a slide toward the “worst scenario”, according to Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry on Monday.
“We condemn this heinous attack and see that the response to this crime is in the hands of those concerned in Iran,” Sheikh Naim Qassem said in an interview with Al-Manar television, assuring Lebanese citizens that Lebanon will not be affected by Israel’s attack on Iran.
Yet, after a Hezbollah member was killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike in Damascus in July, the Hezbollah group threatened revenge and the IDF has been on alert along the borders with Lebanon and Syria ever since.
The Kuwaiti newspaper reported in November that a source close to the IRGC commander Esmail Qaani had stated that Hezbollah had managed to uncover an operation planned by Israel to assassinate Nasrallah and multiple other leaders of pro-Iranian factions in Syria, Iraq, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip.
Al-Jarida reported that Qaani met with Nasrallah during a visit to Beirut in the middle of November.
As tensions have been high in recent months between Hezbollah and Israel, Nasrallah has stated that Iran’s allies in the region should be in a state of high readiness in case of any “American or Israeli folly” during the remainder of U.S. President Donald Trump’s term.