Israel has filed complaints alleging Iran is smuggling suitcases containing tens of millions of U.S. dollars into Lebanon. The money, Israel says, is being used to fund the militant group Hezbollah, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The complaints come as a ceasefire holds between Israel and Hezbollah. However, one condition of the agreement is that Lebanon’s government secure its ports of entry to prevent money and other supplies from reaching Hezbollah.
Israel and Hezbollah battled for months last year. The two sides traded rocket fire while Israeli troops entered southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah is based.
The two sides reached a ceasefire in November, following more than six weeks of fighting on the ground.
Although Israel had to withdraw from southern Lebanon 60 days after the ceasefire, that deadline passed last Sunday, Jan. 26, with Israeli troops not withdrawing.
The White House said, however, that the ceasefire will continue until at least Feb. 18.
But Iran providing Hezbollah with cash fits into Iran’s common patterns, as the country faces a wide array of sanctions from the U.S. and European countries.
In strikes last fall, Israel targeted sites where Hezbollah held money and gold, including branches of a bank facing U.S. sanctions.
Iran has committed to funding Hezbollah even as sanctions have drained its financial resources. The group also plays a major role in fighting Israel on Iran’s behalf.
The Wall Street Journal reported Iran had been funneling the money to Hezbollah through Syria. Still, it noted that the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad last month could make it harder for Iranian money to reach the group.
Meanwhile, cash suitcases and briefcases played a role in facilitating the 2016 Iran nuclear deal. The Obama administration allowed Iran to receive an airplane delivery of $400 million in cash, predominantly held in foreign banks, as part of the terms of the deal the U.S. and Iran negotiated alongside France, Germany, the U.K., Russia, China and the European Union.
President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal in 2018, and despite making promises on the campaign trail to reenter it, President Joe Biden never did.