Washington, DC – Ryan Costello, Policy Director with the National Iranian American Council, issued the following statement amid further regional tensions following a major Israeli airstrike in Lebanon aimed at killing the leader of Hezbollah:
“We are profoundly alarmed by Israel’s bombing of a major population center in the suburbs of Beirut in an apparent effort to kill Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, potentially with U.S. weapons. We are concerned that this escalation risks a broader regional war. It follows more than a week of Israeli military escalations expanding the war into Lebanon and potentially beyond, and belies Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim at the United Nations on Friday that he and his government “yearn for peace.” Netanyahu’s inflammatory rhetoric, including his description of Israel’s enemies as “savages” earlier on Friday, is another attempt to dehumanize and legitimize the enormous death toll of this war.
“The war in Gaza and its immense civilian death toll has been a travesty and a dark stain on humanity for nearly a year. Yet, our leaders have thus far failed to expend the necessary political capital to secure a ceasefire. Now, they may be failing to prevent the war from spiraling out of control, pushing us to the brink of another endless regional war.
“We believe that it is not too late and that there is still time to climb down the escalation ladder. But this will require the U.S. showing strong leadership and using its immense leverage to secure an immediate ceasefire. Time is running out.”
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