Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has strongly condemned the Israeli regime’s new crime of assassinating an Iranian woman and her Lebanese husband in a "brutal" act of terrorism in Lebanon.
The Iranian woman named Masoumeh Karbasi, mother of five, and her husband, Dr. Rida Awada, were assassinated in the Lebanese city of Jounieh, north of the capital Beirut, after being targeted by an Israeli drone strike on Saturday.
In a statement on Sunday, Baghaei expressed his condolences to the bereaved families of the two martyrs and the Iranian and Lebanese people.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will use all available means to pursue the issue and hold the Zionist regime accountable for its crimes,” the spokesman said.
He pointed to a widely circulated footage that shows the assassination of the Iranian national and her husband in a bustling civilian area and emphasized that the Israeli regime’s act is a blatant example of both terrorism and a war crime.
Baghaei also praised Karbasi's legacy as well as her scientific and research records and media contributions in supporting the resistance front.
He noted that Israel’s brutality in assassinating the Iranian woman is another sign of the inherent hostility of the regime towards Iran.
The Iranian spokesperson called on international human rights bodies not to remain indifferent to the act of assassination, which he said is part of Israel's ongoing genocide in occupied Palestine and Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Embassy in Beirut on Sunday denounced Israel’s brutal killing of innocent citizens, particularly the Iranian national and her husband.
In a statement, the embassy called on the international circles to take a “practical, swift and effective” measure to protect the lives of innocent people who are under the constant threat of the Israeli regime’s war machine.
Israel has been targeting Lebanon since October 2023, after the regime launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.
Since late September, Israel has escalated its strikes against the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah, assassinating its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and a number of its senior figures.
At least 2,350 people have been killed by Israeli fire, and 10,906 others wounded since the clashes began last year, according to the health ministry.