Iran’s FM Spox described the martyred Hezbollah media chief as the ‘resonant voice’ representing the Lebanese nation
Iran has strongly condemned the assassination of Hezbollah spokesman Mohammad Afif, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a central Beirut building. Tehran described Afif as the 'eloquent voice' representing the Lebanese people.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, commended Afif for his distinguished role in the global campaign to highlight and inform international public opinion about the injustices and human rights violations perpetrated by what he described as the usurping and apartheid Zionist regime.
Baghaei emphasized that until his final moments, he endeavored to amplify global awareness of the oppression faced by the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples at the hands of the Israeli regime.
An Iranian diplomat has asserted that over 200 journalists and media personnel have been killed by Israeli forces in the past year. The diplomat described these killings as part of a systematic campaign by the Zionist regime aimed at genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian population.
Baghaei has asserted that the intent behind these killings is to instill fear in media organizations, pressuring them to cease coverage of the Israeli government’s alleged human rights violations.
A spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry emphasized that international humanitarian law, notably the 1949 Geneva Conventions, strictly prohibits attacks on journalists and media personnel. The spokesperson condemned the killings of journalist Afif and others in Lebanon and Gaza, labeling these acts as clear examples of war crimes.
Baghaei called upon the United Nations and the International Court of Justice to take measures to hold Israeli officials accountable for alleged acts of brutality.
He reaffirmed that the tragic loss of Afif, alongside the renowned Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and other Lebanese and Palestinian media professionals who have perished, will intensify the global critique of Israel and its supporters. He also emphasized that these sacrifices will strengthen the determination of both Lebanese and Palestinian communities to persist in their rightful resistance against Israel’s occupation and its policies perceived as apartheid.
Afif, a long-serving media adviser to the former Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who lost his life in an Israeli airstrike on September 27, met a tragic end.
He oversaw the operations of the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar television station for a number of years before assuming leadership of the media office for the resistance movement.
