Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem warned that “a war on Iran will ignite the region,” and vowed to confront US threats to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni, but stopped short of pledging to retaliate against Israel.
He added that mediators have indicated that Hezbollah could be attacked as part of a US-Israeli operation against Iran.
Last week, US President Donald Trump said a US “armada” was heading toward the Gulf and that Washington was watching Iran closely after a bloody crackdown on protesters. Trump had appeared to step back from military intervention, but has since insisted it remains an option, and appeared for the first time to call for Khamenei’s removal.
Amid Trump’s latest threats, Hezbollah called on supporters to gather on Monday in its strongholds across Lebanon to express support for the terror group’s patron Iran, “in the face of American-Zionist sabotage and threats.”
Some supporters in Beirut’s southern suburbs held pictures of Khamenei as well as Hezbollah and Iran flags, while also chanting “death to America.”
Speaking to supporters at the rallies, Qassem blamed the violence in the Iranian protests on “infiltrators” placed by enemies of the Islamic Republic, and said harm to Khamenei would “assassinate stability in the region and the world.”
Supporters watch a televised speech by Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem during a rally to show their solidarity with Iran, in the southern suburb of Beirut on January 26, 2026. (Anwar AMRO / AFP)
Khamenei’s supporters consider him to be “the deputy of the infallible” Imam Mehdi, a Shiite Muslim messianic figure, said Qassem, adding that “when Trump threatens Imam Khamenei, he threatens tens of millions who follow his leadership, and it’s our duty to confront this threat by any means.”
Hezbollah “considers [the threat to Khamenei] to be a threat to us, and we have full authority to take whatever measures we deem appropriate to confront it,” said Qassem.
He also said Hezbollah had received via mediators “a clear and explicit question” about whether the terrorist organization would intervene if the US and Israel went to war with Iran.
This handout photograph provided by the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him speaking in Tehran on January 17, 2026. (KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
The mediators brought up potential scenarios in which Hezbollah were attacked before, or as part of, a strike on Iran, said Qassem.
“We are the targets of potential aggression,” he said. “We will choose at that time how to act based on the conditions of the battle… but we are not neutral.”
