Tehran, Sep 28 (IANS): Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly been moved to a safe and secure location after Israel confirmed on Saturday that it has eliminated Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah in airstrikes conducted by its fighter jets in the Daha area of Beirut late Friday.
85-year-old Khamenei, a former President of the country who took over the role as country's 'Supreme Leader' in 1989, has fully backed terror organisations Hezbollah and Hamas over the last many decades.
"All the Resistance forces in the region stand with and support Hezbollah. The Resistance forces will determine the fate of this region with the honorable Hezbollah leading the way," a statement issued by Khamenei's account on X said Saturday afternoon which was his first reaction to Israel's overnight attack on Lebanon.
Without commenting on Nasrallah's fate, he also said that Friday's strikes will not be able to inflict any significant damage on the "solid structure" of Lebanon's Hezbollah.
"The Lebanese haven't forgotten there was a time when the soldiers of the occupying regime were advancing toward Beirut, & Hezbollah stopped them & made Lebanon proud. Today too, by the grace & power of God, Lebanon will make the transgressing, malicious enemy regret its actions," he added.
The reports of Khamenei being moved to a secure location with the country came as Israel vowed to continue its operation "New Order" to eliminate leaders of the terror organisations.
"This is not the end of the toolbox, it should be very clear. There are more tools to go forward. The message is a simple message: whoever threatens the citizens of the State of Israel - we will know how to reach them. In the north, in the south, even in more distant places," said Israeli Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi on Saturday/
Nasrallah has been associated with Hezbollah since the terror group's inception in 1982 following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. In 1992, he took over as the leader of the organisation with an aim to make it a hybrid political-military entity.
"During the 32 years of the terrorist Hassan Nasrallah's tenure as the leader of Hezbollah, he was responsible for the murder of many Israeli civilians and soldiers, and for the planning and execution of thousands of terrorist acts against the State of Israel and around the world. Nasrallah was the main decision-maker and the sole approver of strategic-systemic decisions, and sometimes also tactical decisions in the organisation," said Halevi.