US monitors possible Iranian response to Hezbollah secretary-general’s murder

National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House John Kirby has stated that the Biden administration is closely monitoring potential responses from Iran, Hezbollah, and groups in Iraq and Syria after Israel's assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.

"We are watching this very, very closely to see how - if and how - Hezbollah and or Iran may react as well as the militia groups in Iraq and Syria. We have to be prepared for some sort of response. We have to make sure that we are ready, and we are. We believe we have the force capability we need in the region, but it is not clear right now, it's too soon to know how Iran's going to react to this," Kirby said, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

Nasrallah, who led Hezbollah for 32 years, passed away on September 27. On September 28, the Israel Defense Forces announced that Nasrallah had been killed in an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon.  

The strike occurred during a meeting of Hezbollah leadership. On September 28, the group confirmed the death of its leader and vowed to continue its resistance against Israel. 

The Iranian and Lebanese governments declared a mourning period in honour of Nasrallah. Hezbollah has announced the deaths of two leaders during Israeli missile strikes on the southern outskirts of Beirut. Chief of Hezbollah preventive security unit, prominent theologian involved in the holy war for the liberation of Jerusalem Nabil Kaouk was killed in an attack on the residential area on September 28. 

Another leader, Ali Karaki, known as "number 2" in the military structure, died on September 27 alongside Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah during a strike on an underground bunker where a command meeting was held. Israel eliminated 20 members of Hezbollah military leadership, including key figures responsible for security and military operations. Among them were Ibrahim Hussein Jazini, Abed al-Amir Mohammed Sablini and Ali Naaf Ayub.

By Naila Huseynova