Ex-IRG Chief: “Israel’s” Targeted Killings Speed Up Its Own Collapse

By Staff, Agencies

Former IRG commander Mohsen Rezaei warned that the “Israeli” entity is hastening its own downfall through its campaign of assassinating resistance leaders, saying each targeted killing only deepens the entity’s strategic crisis.

Rezaei delivered the remarks Monday during a funeral ceremony for unidentified martyrs in the southeastern city of Kerman.

He said the “Israeli” entity wrongly believes that assassinating Lebanese and Iranian commanders will intimidate nations into submission. Instead, he argued, “with every commander it assassinates, it takes another step toward its own demise.”

Rezaei emphasized that these resistance commanders do not represent governments but rather “belong to nations and to the oppressed,” making their martyrdom deeply consequential across the region.

His comments followed Hezbollah’s confirmation of the martyrdom of senior commander Haytham Ali Tabatabai and four resistance fighters in a “Israeli” airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Rezaei stressed that despite continuous pressure, the Axis of Resistance in Lebanon is now “stronger than during the era of Martyr Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,” referring to the former Hezbollah secretary general assassinated in a “Israeli” attack last year.

Rezaei also said the resistance may need to reconsider its longstanding policy of strategic patience, noting that “the criminal ‘Israeli’ entity exploits restraint.” He added that any decision on shifting strategy rests with Lebanon’s resistance forces.

The former IRG commander praised the Iranian people for decades of steadfastness against foreign aggression — from resisting the Iraqi-imposed war in the 1980s to confronting the joint “Israeli”-American war in June — arguing that without such sacrifices, Iran might have faced the fate of countries occupied during the World Wars.

Rezaei highlighted the symbolic significance of Kerman, home city of General Qassem Soleimani, the late commander of the IRG Quds Force. He said Iran’s resistance has inspired movements across West Asia, from Lebanon and Iraq to Yemen, helping sustain a regional legacy of defiance against occupation and foreign domination.