BEIRUT – The Iranian 
Embassy in Beirut has issued a statement clarifying that Tehran’s positions regarding developments in southern Lebanon are only communicated through official channels, in response to remarks attributed to Iran in some Lebanese media.
In a statement released on social media, the embassy said it “wishes to point out that the statements of these individuals are merely an expression of their personal views, and emphasizes that the positions of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the embassy are announced solely through its official authorities and representatives”.
The statement did not specify which media reports or individuals it was responding to. However, it came after reports in some Lebanese outlets suggested Iran had warned the United States that an Israeli offensive on the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon would be met with a forceful response from Tehran.
The Ali al-Taher ridge, which overlooks a wide area of southeastern Lebanon and is around 10 kilometers from the Israeli border, has become one of the most hotly contested positions in the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah war. 
According to Reuters, Iran delivered a message to Washington last month through Omani intermediaries, warning that a full-fledged Israeli offensive on the ridge would trigger a large-scale Iranian attack. 
Hezbollah’s media office told Reuters that any large-scale Israeli attack on Ali al-Taher would mean a return to full-blown war and could see missiles landing on northern Israeli settlements.
The statement from the Iranian Embassy in Beirut comes as Lebanon continues to grapple with the fallout from the ongoing war, which intensified after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28. 
Despite a June ceasefire agreement, fighting along the border has persisted, with the terrorist Israeli regime occupying swathes of territory in southern Lebanon it describes as a “security zone”.