Iran’s Quds Force has been directly involved in reorganizing Hezbollah’s military network in Lebanon following the killing of Hassan Nasrallah and the group’s heavy losses in its conflict with Israel, according to an investigation by the French newspaper Le Figaro.
According to the report published on Saturday, in the days after Nasrallah’s assassination in September 2024, Hezbollah’s leadership was thrown into chaos, leaving its forces without direction. “For ten days, no one answered calls. We were like a body in a coma,” one Hezbollah member told Le Figaro.
About two weeks later, Iranian operatives led by Esmail Ghaani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Quds Force, arrived in Lebanon to restore order. Within ten days, the report said, they rebuilt Hezbollah’s military structure, though its political leadership remained vacant.
Founded in 1982 by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah has grown into Lebanon’s most powerful military and political organization, with capabilities surpassing the national army. The group has fought multiple wars with Israel and repeatedly rejected demands to dismantle its military wing.
In August, the Lebanese cabinet ordered the army to draw up plans to disarm Hezbollah as part of a broader effort to consolidate state control over weapons under a US-backed truce with Israel. Tehran condemned the move, accusing Western powers of seeking to weaken Lebanon’s defenses.
Covert rebuilding under Iranian direction
Iran guided the creation of a new, more secretive framework separating Hezbollah’s political and military wings and bringing in younger commanders, according to Le Figaro.
Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad said the organization now operates with a shorter chain of command in which “no one knows who is responsible for what.”
While Hezbollah agreed to disarm in southern Lebanon, the report said the group continues to store weapons in the Bekaa Valley and north of the Litani River, preserving its broader network with Iranian assistance.
Tehran’s strategy, the paper added, appears aimed at maintaining Hezbollah’s role as a deterrent force while avoiding a new direct confrontation with Israel.
A Western intelligence source quoted in the report described the group as “a snake crawling in the dark -- not gone, just waiting.”
Despite financial strain linked to Syria’s economic collapse, Le Figaro said Iran’s backing remains vital to Hezbollah’s recovery. The group, it wrote, is quietly rebuilding its command hierarchy under Iranian supervision while retaining its political influence in Lebanon and preparing for “the next phase.”
“The view of the Islamic Republic of Iran and countries such as Russia and China, which are permanent members of the Security Council, is that contrary to the position of the United States and some European countries, the snapback mechanism has not been triggered and resolution 2231 has formally expired,” Araghchi said in remarks published by ISNA.
“With the resolution’s expiration, all restrictions imposed by the Security Council on the Islamic Republic of Iran have been completely lifted and the issue of Iran is no longer on the council’s agenda.”
The position, Araghchi said, had gained broad support. “More than 120 countries adopted this view in the final document of the Non-Aligned Movement foreign ministers’ meeting in Uganda,” he said.
“The Russian Federation, as a permanent member and the current president of the Security Council, has also issued an official statement rejecting the return to previous resolutions.”
Strategic partnership with Moscow
The relationship between Tehran and Moscow strengthened through the signing of a 20-year cooperation agreement, the foreign minister added.
“The comprehensive partnership between Iran and Russia provides a firm basis for expanding cooperation in all fields and safeguarding the common interests of the two countries,” Araghchi said.
“This relationship is rooted in mutual trust, shared interests and a long-term strategic outlook.”
He also confirmed that Iran, Russia and China had exchanged joint communications with the UN Security Council and the secretary-general over recent months expressing a common stance on the expiration of the resolution and rejection of the European move to revive sanctions.
Russian UN envoy Mikhail Ulyanov wrote on X on Saturday that under paragraph 8 of resolution 2231, “the UN Security Council has concluded today the consideration of the Iranian nuclear issue and the item ‘Non-proliferation’ is removed from the list of matters of which the Council is seized.”
Response to European action
In a letter to the UN secretary-general and the council president, Araghchi said the termination of the resolution was “in full accordance with its explicit provisions.”
He wrote that Iran had “implemented the JCPOA in good faith and with full precision,” while accusing the United States of “grossly violating international law” by withdrawing from the accord in 2018.
The European powers’ decision in August to trigger the snapback mechanism, he said, had “no legal, procedural or political basis,” adding that any comment to reinstate expired resolutions was “null and void.”
Iran and its partners would “focus on strengthening their collective stance at the Security Council and maintaining national unity to advance the country’s higher interests,” Araghchi concluded.
The event titled "Human Rights in Iran After the Islamic Republic" was hosted by the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights Organization, which said its goal was to foster a “respectful and neutral space” for discussion among diverse opposition voices.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi told the gathering that building an effective coalition for change in Iran required agreement on concrete principles rather than abstract ideals.
“Using broad terms like democracy and freedom as a basis for unity has not worked,” she said. “We must ask what kind of democracy we want, define what we mean by freedom of expression, and see where we truly agree.”
Iranians should not fear transition, Ebadi added, rejecting comparisons between a post–Islamic Republic future and the turmoil that followed the 1979 revolution.
“People should not be afraid of change.”
Respectful dialogue among opposition groups
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Iran Human Rights, told Iran International that the Oslo meeting for the first time invited representatives from a range of political parties and civic movements opposed to the Islamic Republic.
“The aim is not to form a new alliance or enforce political uniformity, but to enable respectful dialogue among all groups on the foundations of human rights,” he said. “Whatever form the next political system takes, all Iranians must enjoy equal rights.”
Recognizing diversity was essential to preventing the return of authoritarianism, Asso Hassanzadeh of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan said. “The key to avoiding future tyranny is political justice and acceptance of plurality.”
Abdullah Mohtadi of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan told the conference that any transition must follow today’s international standards.
“It should not turn into bloodshed or political revenge,” he said. “Transitional justice must be based on global norms.”
Fouad Pashaie, secretary-general of the Constitutionalist Party of Iran, said democracy starts today, warning that decades had already been lost.
“Every political group that cares about a united Iran must now cooperate, despite differences,” he said, stressing that opposition efforts should focus on how to end the Islamic Republic without allowing it to rebrand itself under a new guise.
The conference continues Sunday behind closed doors with addresses by party representatives and policy experts.
Iranian opposition figures have stepped up calls to rally against Tehran following a punishing 12-day war with Israel in June, but there have been no significant protests.
Iranian exiled prince Reza Pahlavi urged unity among Iran's opposition during a pro-monarchy conference in Munich in July, saying the Islamic Republic's downfall would lead to sustainable peace and prosperity in the Middle East.
Later that month, Maryam Rajavi, the leader of exiled opposition group the National Council of Resistance of Iran, vowed the armed ouster of its decades-old nemesis the Islamic Republic and the founding of a democratic, non-nuclear state in its place.
