Tehran, Sep 28 (IANS): Iran has condemned Israel's deadly strikes on Beirut, calling the attack a "war crime" and also claimed that the US is complicit.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian described the strikes as a "flagrant war crime" that "once again reveals the terrorist nature of the Israeli regime," the state news agency Press TV reported.
Iran's Foreign Ministry also denounced the strikes in Beirut's suburbs, describing the attack as a "barbaric" act facilitated by American-supplied bombs.
"While the Israeli regime must be held accountable for the atrocity crimes they have been committing in occupied Palestine and Lebanon, one cannot disregard the US complicity," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said while addressing the UN Security Council on Friday, adding that, "Israel's war-mongering relies on US military support and political backing."
Both the Israeli and American governments should be held accountable, the Ministry's spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said.
"The ongoing Israeli aggression against Palestine and Lebanon exposes the hollow nature of Western calls for ceasefire, serving only to prolong Zionist atrocities," Kanaani added.
The Iranian Embassy in Beirut said the Israeli strike on Friday "changes the rules of the game" and warned Israel would be "punished".
"The Israeli regime once again commits a bloody massacre, targeting heavily populated residential neighborhoods, spewing false justifications to try and cover up its brutal crimes," the Embassy posted on X.
"There is no doubt that this reprehensible crime and reckless behavior represent a serious escalation that changes the rules of the game, and that its perpetrator will be punished appropriately," it added.
What the US is saying: Israel notified the US — which has been pushing for ceasefire deals in both Gaza and at the Israel-Lebanon border — only moments before it carried out Friday's strikes, the US Defence Secretary Llyod Austin said on Friday.
US President Joe Biden told reporters that the US had "no knowledge of or participation in" the attack.