The president of Iran says that Israel is “killing innocent people” with help from the West

Masoud Pezeshkian, the president of Iran, said on Friday that Israel should “stop killing innocent people” and that the US and the EU supported what it was doing in the Middle East.

Pezeshkian was speaking to a Russian state TV reporter on the sidelines of a foreign meeting in Turkmenistan.

Israel in recent weeks has sharply escalated its assault on Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, including by killing its top leaders, sending ground troops into southern Lebanon and bombing the city Beirut.

An Israeli strike late on Thursday in the heart of Beirut killed 22 people and injured more than 100, Lebanese police said.

Israel says the actions in Lebanon aim to allow tens of thousands of its residents to return home after being forced to leave northern Israel due to Hezbollah rocket fire over the past year.

Hezbollah is firing at Israel in support of its ally Hamas, which triggered Israel’s ground operation in Gaza following an Oct. 7 attack on communities in southern Israel.

“I would like to say to Israel: stop killing innocent people. Stop bombing residential buildings, people who have nothing anyway,” said Pezeshkian, accusing Israel of violating every kind of international deal.

“It does this because it knows that the US and the European Union are behind it,” he said.

The Middle East remains on high alert for further escalation in the region, awaiting Israel’s reaction to an Iranian missile strike on Oct. 1.