Israel is directly threatening Iran and its ‘axis of resistance’. So where does all this leave Iran’s ‘axis of resistance’?

We spoke to Iranian academic Mohammad Marandi just hours before the invasion.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: With me now is Mohammad Marandi, who is normally based in Tehran but you were here in Beirut when this broke out and you are still here. Iran says that the attack on Nasrallah will be avenged. Where is the revenge?

Mohammad Marandi: Well, I came the day after the genocidal onslaught on Lebanon, to bring aid and also to give support in any way that I can. There will be revenge. I have no doubt the Israelis will be punished. But I think that you’re mistaken. These are not proxies. Ansar Allah in Yemen – they defeated the genocidal onslaught that the Americans helped the Saudis with. And proxy doesn’t win such wars. They don’t win in the Red Sea against the Americans trying to block Israeli trade and stop the genocide by implementing the genocide convention. Hamas cannot be a proxy when it and jihadist – Islamic Jihad – have prevented the Israeli regime from taking Gaza for almost a year. This small piece of land.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: If Israel is crossing into Lebanon tonight, is Iran going to do anything about it?

Mohammad Marandi: I’m not in the government and I’m not in the military…

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: You’re well connected.

Mohammad Marandi: I have no doubt that Iran will do what it takes to help Hezbollah by any means necessary. And the Israeli regime will be defeated. I think people should be careful about not falling into the trap of this media campaign that’s now growing in the West, that Hezbollah is falling apart. Hezbollah’s weakest link has always been Beirut, because Beirut has, since before I was born, it was a centre of espionage.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: And it worked. You heard our previous guest, the general from the Lebanese army, retired, saying this was a big mistake by Hezbollah and the people are going to pay the price.

Mohammad Marandi: Well, there are many generals and former generals in the Lebanese army that say otherwise. The United States will never allow the Lebanese army to even have air defence. They will not allow them to be able to defend the country because the United States does not want anyone to be able to defend themselves against this Israeli regime. The Americans are helping and the Europeans, your government, is helping in this genocide in Gaza. And Hezbollah played the heroic role of trying to draw away the Israeli army from Gaza, just like Ansar Allah in Yemen. These are the heroes – and the Western governments – they are the terrorists. Because they are helping this genocide. I was 1000m away from those bunker busters – 83 they say they were – hundreds of people were slaughtered. I know a husband and wife that I think died. I think they lived in those buildings.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: There have been no reliable numbers coming out of that, have there. It’s been very confusing.

Mohammad Marandi: There are six towers. I was here for my sabbatical for a year – those six towers were full of families. But the West talks about people like Justin Trudeau…

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: But this is the point. Ordinary people will pay the price in this war as they already have.

Mohammad Marandi: They are paying the price because the West is supporting genocide. They’re giving the Israeli regime bunker busters to slaughter in Gaza, to slaughter in Lebanon. But Hezbollah’s military is intact. And we will see in the coming days that the Israeli regime will fail. They have struck in Beirut, but there are thousands of kilometres of tunnels underground with advanced weapons and highly motivated people who will defend their country.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: Why is Hezbollah opposed to the UN resolution that had kept the peace for a while? Why is Iran opposed to just that as the solution? You pull back and stop attacking, that’s it?

Mohammad Marandi: The Hezbollah supports the sovereignty of Lebanon. The United States and the Europeans will not allow Lebanon to be strong. They want a weak Lebanon just like Jordan, just like Egypt.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: But if the Lebanese government wants the U.N. resolution to be the solution, why is Hezbollah opposing it?

Mohammad Marandi: The majority of the Lebanese parliament is the Hezbollah coalition. They won the election. But in the Western world and their world view, they don’t count. Anything that serves the Western narrative is what is acceptable. The majority of people in Lebanon, they voted for this coalition, which includes Hezbollah – the majority. And Hezbollah supported the Palestinian people in Gaza while the West was helping with the genocide. So the moral ground is very clear here, who is immoral? It’s the West and the Israeli regime – and these people are the heroes who are trying to stop the regime from carrying out genocide in Gaza. And now the regime is carrying out genocide in Lebanon.