Iranian president says Israel, backed by West, is 'killing innocent people'

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Friday that Israel should "stop killing innocent people", and that its actions in the Middle East were backed by the United States and the European Union.

Pezeshkian was speaking to a Russian state TV reporter on the sidelines of an international meeting in Turkmenistan.

Israel in recent weeks has sharply escalated its assault on Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, including by killing its top leaders, sending ground troops into southern Lebanon and bombing the capital Beirut.

An Israeli strike late on Thursday in the heart of Beirut killed 22 people and injured more than 100, Lebanese authorities said.

Israel says the operations in Lebanon aim to allow tens of thousands of its residents to return home after being forced to leave northern Israel due to Hezbollah rocket fire over the past year.

Hezbollah is firing at Israel in support of its ally Hamas, which triggered Israel's ground offensive in Gaza following an Oct. 7 attack on communities in southern Israel.

"I would like to say to Israel: stop killing innocent people. Stop bombing residential buildings, people who have nothing anyway," said Pezeshkian, accusing Israel of violating every kind of international agreement.

"It does this because it knows that the US and the European Union are behind it," he said.

The Middle East remains on high alert for further escalation in the region, awaiting Israel's response to an Iranian missile strike on Oct. 1.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Mark Trevelyan and Maxim Rodionov; Editing by Sharon Singleton)