The caretaker foreign minister of Iran cautioned the Zionist regime against threatening Lebanon, saying Israel will have to pay dearly for the mistake of committing an act of aggression as the Lebanese resistance forces are fully prepared for counteraction.

According to The Iran Project, in a telephone conversation on Sunday, Ali Baqeri and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues, including the latest developments in Palestine following the Israeli regime’s onslaught on Gaza.

The Iranian diplomat denounced the Israeli regime’s threats against Lebanon as another episode of the regime’s brutal crimes against the people of Gaza and a testimony to Israel’s vicious nature.

Highlighting the Lebanese resistance forces’ full preparedness to combat the Zionist regime’s threats, Baqeri warned Israel that any act of aggression will cost it dearly considering the “unparalleled power of resistance in Lebanon”.

He noted that the Zionists have been unable to return the situation to the era before the October 7, 2023, after nine months of brutal onslaught on Gaza, adding, “They (Israelis) should bear in mind that any new mistake in Lebanon will create new conditions across the region against the Zionists, in such a way that they won’t be able to make up for their strategic defeat even through massacre and crimes.”

For his part, the foreign minister of Turkey praised Iran for its attention to Palestine, decried the Israeli regime’s atrocities, and deplored the international community’s inability to stop the Israeli genocidal crimes in the Gaza Strip.

The Zionist regime’s policy is based on the persistence and spread of tensions in the region, Fidan noted, warning that such process will have enormous impacts on the other regional countries.

He further stressed the important role that the regional organizations, such as the D8, can play in the settlement of crisis in Palestine, saying the cooperation between Ankara and Tehran is highly significant when it comes to the issue of Palestine and the protection of regional security and stability.

At least 37,877 people have been killed and 86,969 injured in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7, 2023.

The Israeli military also launches attacks on areas in southern Lebanon.

Feeding the idea of Israel shifting military focus from Gaza to Lebanon have been statements from officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who said last week that Israel is winding down operations in Rafah and will redirect to Lebanon.

Israel’s attacks have displaced nearly 100,000 people from their homes in south Lebanon and killed at least 435 people, some 349 of them named by Hezbollah as its members.