Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Monday to issue a death sentence against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not an arrest warrant.
Speaking before a gathering in Tehran of Basij forces, the paramilitary arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Khamenei said that the arrest warrants issued against Netanyahu and former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant last week were “insufficient,” according to Iran’s official IRNA outlet. “He should be sentenced to death,” he added.
“Iran’s Basij will definitely succeed in destroying the Zionist regime one day. What the Zionist regime did in Gaza and Lebanon is not victory, it is a war crime. They are fools and should not believe that by bombing houses, hospitals and congregations they are achieving victory. Nobody considers that victory,” he continued.
The Basij consists of regime loyalists who serve as an auxiliary force that brutally enforces the state’s control over its citizens while suppressing dissidents.
Khamenei further asserted that the spirit of Iran and its so-called axis of resistance “will prevail over U.S. and Israeli policies. The Resistance Front, expanded today, will expand tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, reports from Israel indicate that a ceasefire agreement with Lebanese Iranian proxy force Hezbollah may be close to being settled.
“It could happen within days; a few details remain to be finalized,” Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog told Israel’s Army Radio on Monday morning.
Netanyahu convened a consultation on Sunday night with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and other senior security officials to discuss the Lebanon ceasefire efforts, Hebrew media reported.
Among the remaining gaps between the sides is reportedly Jerusalem’s demand that the IDF maintain freedom of action in Lebanon should Hezbollah violate the terms of the ceasefire by rearming itself and attempting to reestablish forces south of the Litani River.
