Iran is smuggling weapons to Hezbollah on commercial flights, taking “unexpected routes” to conceal the activity.
By: World Israel News Staff
Iran is utilizing civilian airlines to transport weapons to the Hezbollah terror organization in Lebanon, intelligence sources say.
A Fox News report Monday quoted Western intelligence sources who have uncovered “unexpected routes” taken by Iran in an apparent attempt to avoid detection of its arms-smuggling into Lebanon.
The sources identified two rare and unusual Qeshm Fars Air flights from Tehran to the international airport in Beirut over the past two months.
The first flight in July departed from an air force base in Tehran, stopped for a short layover at the international airport in Damascus and then continued with a rather “uncharacteristic flight path” to the Beirut international airport, the sources said.
The route passed over northern Lebanon, not following any commonly used flight path.
The plane carried components for manufacturing precise weapons in Iranian factories inside Lebanon. The US and Israel have already exposed Iran’s weapons factories in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.
The second flight in August landed in Beirut after departing Tehran’s international airport. This flight also followed a slightly irregular route north of Syria.
“The Iranians are trying to come up with new ways and routes to smuggle weapons from Iran to its allies in the Middle East, testing and defying the West’s abilities to track them down,” the source told Fox News.
Qeshm Fars Air is considered one of the various pseudo-civilian airlines used for arms-smuggling by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the report noted.
Blatant violation of Security Council resolutions
Israel has long warned that Iran is taking advantage of civilian airlines to arm Hezbollah.
In November 2016, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Danny Danon warned the Security Council that Iran was utilizing civilian airlines to transport weapons to Hezbollah.
In a letter to the Council, Danon said it was the IRGC that was responsible for the smuggling, and he outlined how they were doing it.
“Iran is using airlines such as ‘Mahan Air’ to supply Hezbollah with the capacity to enhance its missile arsenal. The arms and related materials are packed in suitcases by the Quds Force in Iran and transferred directly to Hezbollah operatives,” he wrote.
Danon charged that Iran’s actions are “in blatant violation of numerous Security Council resolutions,” including resolutions 2231 and 1701.
Resolution 2231 endorsed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear agreement and added more restrictions on Iran, while resolution 1701 put in place the ceasefire ending the Second Lebanon War with Hezbollah.
Hezbollah was in possession of roughly 7,000 rockets in 2006, and the Lebanese terror group now has more than 120,000 missiles aimed at Israeli cities, hidden behind human shields in the towns under their control.
伊朗正在向真主党走私武器，以“意想不到的路线”来掩盖这一活动。
以色列世界新闻工作者
情报机构称，伊朗正在利用民用航空公司向黎巴嫩真主党恐怖组织运送武器。
福克斯新闻星期一的报道援引了西方情报人员的话说，他们揭露了伊朗采取“意想不到的路线”，显然是为了避免发现其向黎巴嫩走私武器。
这些消息来源确认了过去两个月里从德黑兰飞往贝鲁特国际机场的两次罕见且不寻常的Qeshm Fars Air航班。
消息人士说，7月份的第一架飞机从德黑兰的空军基地起飞，在大马士革国际机场短暂停留，然后继续沿着一条相当“不寻常的飞行路线”飞往贝鲁特国际机场。
这条路线通过了黎巴嫩北部，没有遵循任何常用的飞行路线。
这架飞机运载在黎巴嫩伊朗工厂制造精确武器的部件。美国和以色列已经暴露了黎巴嫩、叙利亚和也门的伊朗武器工厂。
八月份的第二次航班在离开德黑兰国际机场后降落在贝鲁特。这次飞行也遵循了叙利亚北部一条不规则的路线。
这位消息人士告诉福克斯新闻：“伊朗人正试图想出新的方法和路线，将武器从伊朗走私到中东的盟国，测试并蔑视西方追踪这些武器的能力。”
报告指出，Qeshm Fars Air被认为是伊斯兰革命卫队用于武器走私的各种伪民用航空公司之一。
公然违反安理会决议
以色列早就警告说，伊朗正利用民用航空公司武装真主党。
2016年11月，以色列驻联合国大使丹尼·丹农警告安理会，伊朗正在利用民用航空公司向真主党运送武器。
在给安理会的一封信中，达农说，是IRGC负责走私，他概述了他们是怎么做到的。
“伊朗正在利用像Mahan Air这样的航空公司为真主党提供增强导弹防御能力的能力。这些武器和相关材料由驻伊朗圣城部队用手提箱包装，并直接转给真主党特工。
达农指控伊朗的行动“公然违反了安理会多项决议”，包括第2231和1701号决议。
第2231号决议核可了《联合全面行动计划》的核协议，并增加了对伊朗的限制，同时第1701号决议实施了停火，结束了与真主党的第二次黎巴嫩战争。
真主党在2006年拥有大约7000枚火箭，黎巴嫩恐怖组织现在拥有超过120000枚导弹，瞄准以色列城市，隐藏在他们控制下的城镇的人盾后面。