CAIRO, June 18. /TASS/. Lebanon’s Hezbollah Shia movement may join Iran in its standoff with Israel if necessary, the Al Hadath television reported.
A source close to Hezbollah told the TV channel that if the movement decides to intervene into the armed conflict, it will use "heavy weaponry" against the Jewish state. In this case, the movement will act "not as a decoy," but as a full-fledged military ally of Iran, because "it still has sufficient capabilities to do so."
However, the source emphasized that Hezbollah will join the conflict "only if the Iranian government feels that it is losing control over the situation."
Overnight into June 13, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, targeting Iran's nuclear program. Iran responded in less than 24 hours. In the following days, Tel Aviv and Tehran exchanged strikes again. Both parties reported casualties and damage, and admitted that a number of facilities had been hit, but said the damage was limited.
On June 13, Hezbollah strongly condemned Israeli strikes and expressed "full solidarity with the government and people of Iran." However, it stopped short of announcing that it joins the conflict on Iran's side.