The Lebanese government stopped two Iranian planes from landing in Beirut after receiving warnings from the United States. The warnings indicated that Israel might target the airport if the planes were allowed to land, in order to prevent Iran from using the flights to transfer funds to the Hezbollah terrorist organization, AFP reported on Sunday.
On Thursday, Lebanese officials informed their Iranian counterparts that one of the flights scheduled to land in Lebanon could not proceed, a source revealed. The source added, “Through the Americans, Israel informed the Lebanese state that it would target the airport if the Iranian plane landed in Lebanon.” The Americans reportedly emphasized that the Israeli threat was “serious.”
A second Iranian flight to Beirut was also canceled on Friday.
In related news, Avichay Adraee, the head of the Arab media division in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, disclosed on Wednesday that in recent weeks, the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah have been using Beirut’s airport to smuggle money through civilian flights. Adraee explained that the funds were meant to bolster Hezbollah and fund terrorist operations against Israel.
He also mentioned that the IDF has been working with the ceasefire monitoring mechanism and sharing pertinent information to stop these smuggling activities. However, the IDF believes that, despite these efforts, some of the money transfers have still managed to succeed.
{Matzav.com}
