Iran has backed Hezbollah, both financially and militarily, for many years.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been moved to a secure location amid security concerns in the aftermath of a strike on Beirut that killed Hezbollah’s leader, Reuters reports.

Israel launched several attacks on Iran’s ally, Hezbollah.

Two regional officials told Reuters that Khamenei was re-located and that Tehran was in contact with Hezbollah to decide next steps after Hassan Nasrallah’s death.

Khanmenei vowed in a statement to avenge the death of the Hezbollah leader.
Hezbollah’s conflict with Israel was always seen as a dangerous game. But the group seemed to believe it had the right strategy, and that it could even benefit.

Before the recent escalation, it had limited its attacks to border areas, giving indications, often by Hassan Nasrallah himself, that it was not interested in a major war with Israel.

It is possible it could not have imagined any Israeli response would come with such force.

By not deploying its most sophisticated arsenal, Hezbollah seemed to have calculated it could prevent any major escalation that would see its infrastructure, weapons and leaders targeted. This is exactly what has happened.

In less than two weeks, Israel demonstrated it had penetrated the group’s communications network and carried out airstrikes that killed around 800 people across the country, including senior Hezbollah figures, such as the commander of its main fighting unit. And, now, the group’s leader.

Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim group whose name means Party of God, is described as a terrorist organisation by the UK, the US and others, but is more than just a militia in Lebanon.

It is a political party with representation in parliament, and is included in the government. It is also a social movement, engrained in Lebanese society, with significant support. How it will respond remains unclear.