Israel alleges Iran is smuggling suitcases of cash into Lebanon to fund Hezbollah

Jan 31

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Lauren Taylor Anchor

By Lauren Taylor (Anchor), Roey Hadar (Producer), Joey Nunez (Video Editor)

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.

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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.

Tags: hezbollah, Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, Lebanon

LAUREN TAYLOR: Israel has filed complaints alleging Iran is smuggling suitcases containing tens of millions of U.S. dollars into Lebanon to fund the militant group Hezbollah, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The complaints come as a ceasefire holds between Israel and Hezbollah but 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, with the two sides trading rocket fire and Israeli troops entering southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah is based.

The two sides reached a ceasefire in November after 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 with Israeli troops not withdrawing.

The White House said, however, that the ceasefire will continue until at least February 18th.

But Iran providing Hezbollah 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, with it playing 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 but noted that the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad last month could make it harder for Iranian money to reach the group.

And cash suitcases and briefcases played a role in facilitating the Iran nuclear deal in 2016. The Obama administration allowed Iran to receive an airplane delivery of $400 million in cash held mostly in foreign banks, as part of the terms of the deal the U.S. and Iran negotiated along with 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 the deal, President Biden did not do so.

For Straight Arrow News, I’m Lauren Taylor.

And for all the latest updates on this and other top stories, download the Straight Arrow News app or visit SAN.com.