Lebanon's PM Says IRGC Commanding Hezbollah Fighters

RFE
22 Mar 2026, 13:35 GMT+10

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22:38

Lebanese Prime Minister Says IRGC Commanding Hezbollah Fighters

Lebanon's prime minister said members of Iran's hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are commanding pro-Tehran Hezbollah fighters in the country in the group's war against Israel.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, in an interview with the Al Hadath network on March 22, slammed Hezbollah for dragging Lebanon into the Middle East war by firing rockets toward Israel.

"It was declared that this war was in retaliation for the assassination of Khamenei, so this means this war was imposed upon us," he said, referring to the Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of US-Israeli air strikes on Iran.

Israeli air strikes have blasted sections of Lebanon in the fight against Hezbollah, including Beirut's southern suburbs.

Salam said an incident in which an Iran-made drone hit a British sovereign base in Cyprus earlier this month was initiated by the "Revolutionary Guard, which is present and, unfortunately, is managing the military operation in Lebanon."

"These people have forged passports and entered the country illegally," he added.

Lebanon has banned the activities of the IRGC in the country and has imposed a ban on Hezbollah military activity.

The United States has designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization, while the EU has sanctioned the group's military wing but not its political organization in the country.

With reporting by AFP

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