Ghassan Hasbani calls for Hezbollah's immediate disarmament after Mojtaba Khamenei message

New remarks attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei, the Islamic Republic's leader, which said the regime's wars need no geographic limits, drew a sharp response from politicians in Lebanon. Ghassan Hasbani, a Lebanese MP from the Lebanese Forces party, called for Hezbollah's immediate disarmament and said Hezbollah and the Houthis both carry out the Islamic Republic's orders in the region.

Hasbani linked his demand to the discovery of a truck carrying explosives in the Bekaa Valley, saying it was no accident and pointed to an organised operation to move explosives. Lebanon's judiciary has brought charges against 13 Hezbollah members in the same case.

Tehran's "order" to Hezbollah

Ghayath Yazbeck, another MP from the Lebanese Forces, the largest party bloc in parliament, said Mojtaba Khamenei had used the message to order the formation of an all-out resistance front against any US or Israeli attack, not to express a wish. He asked Hezbollah whether it was not ashamed of words that call its independence of decision into question, and warned that if a new war begins, Hezbollah will join it and drag Lebanon into ruin once again.

Ashraf Rifi, a former head of Lebanon's Internal Security Forces, said the messages attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei were a sign of a power struggle inside the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) led by Ahmad Vahidi, and that the region will no longer tolerate a regime with absent leaders. As of publication, Hezbollah had not responded officially to the criticism.

Background: the absent leader's message without images

On Saturday 31 October, in a written message to military commanders, Mojtaba Khamenei ordered an immediate response without geographic limits to any attack. No photo, video or audio of that meeting was released; he has not been seen in any public place since succeeding Ali Khamenei in early 2026.

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam had earlier called for an end to the Islamic Republic's interference in Lebanon's affairs. After the first messages attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei were published, the Lebanese government ordered his pictures removed from the highway to Beirut airport.

Lebanese politicians see Mojtaba Khamenei's message as Tehran's direct order to Hezbollah to drag Lebanon into war.