Iran’s foreign minister called on the militant groups it backs in the Middle East to rebuild, in a sign Tehran may be determined to restore regional military influence eroded by Israel in a 15-month conflict.
“The resistance has gone through a difficult and significant period; it must rebuild itself, rebuild its forces, and apply the lessons learned from this war," Abbas Araghchi told a news conference at a Gaza-related event in Tehran on Tuesday.
“We are confident that the resistance will return to the field stronger than before.”
His remarks come as Gaza faces widespread devastation following Israel’s military response to the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.
Israeli bombardments and ground operations have left much of the enclave in ruins, with tens of thousands of Palestinians displaced.
A long-sought ceasefire-for-hostages deal was brokered on January 15 after intense negotiations in Doha, mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.
Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007. The armed cadres and military infrastructure of group, designated a terrorist organization by the United States and Britain, have been pummeled by a devastating Israeli incursion into the enclave.
Araghchi said that so-called resistance groups must adapt now that the conflict in Gaza is paused. The array of Islamist armed factions in the occupied Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen have long been funded and armed by Tehran.
Israel decapitated the leadership of Hezbollah in Lebanon and helped bring about the downfall of the Assad dynasty in Syria, Iran's oldest Arab ally.
Still, Araghchi said Israel had been defeated in the conflict and described the ceasefire as tenuous.
"Some think that this regime, due to this feeling (of defeat), may take action and violate the ceasefire, which is not unlikely given the nature of the criminal Zionist regime."
“The resistance movement is a school of thought and ideology that cannot be eliminated with weapons,” Araghchi added. “Its main weapon is not conventional arms; it is the blood of the martyrs.”
The bureau has released posters seeking information on the two men with a combined reward of up to $25 million - $5 million from the FBI and $20 million from the US State Department’s Rewards for Justice program - for information leading to Levinson's location.
The two Iranian intelligence officers identified by the FBI are Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad Khazai. The FBI alleges that Baseri and Khazai, acting as officials of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), orchestrated Levinson's abduction, subsequent detention and likely death.
The former FBI agent vanished during a freelance investigation in Kish Island, southern Iran, in 2007. His disappearance has remained an open case for the FBI, which has vowed to bring him home.
Iranian officials have never acknowledged detaining Levinson.
"The FBI remains steadfast in our commitment to return Bob to his family," said Sanjay Virmani, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Counterterrorism Division.
“Our extensive investigation continues to develop new leads and intelligence, and we will pursue all options to hold every Iranian official involved in his abduction accountable.”
The US Treasury Department previously sanctioned both Baseri and Khazai in December 2020 for their roles in Levinson's disappearance.
His family announced that he was presumed dead in March 2020, on the advice of US officials.
The Levinsons said in a 2023 statement, “We will never stop demanding that Iranian leaders answer for what happened to Robert Levinson, the greatest man we have ever known. His abduction on Iranian soil in March 2007, his years of imprisonment with a total lack of any human rights or decency, and ultimately his murder, are on their hands.”