Smuggling of Iranian bombs via Europe to Hezbollah
The Telegraph newspaper reported on the smuggling of Iranian bombs via the European route, which Hezbollah uses against Israel.
The British newspaper "The Telegraph" reported yesterday that the Islamic Republic of Iran is using European ports to send weapons to its Lebanese-backed group Hezbollah. The terrorist group Hezbollah receives missiles and bombs from ships that dock in ports in Belgium, Spain and Italy.
A senior Israeli intelligence source said regarding the maritime transport of these weapons: “The use of European ports helps to hide the shipments, change the initial location of loading by changing the waybills, and also change the containers.” According to published reports, the Israeli Air Force targeted shipments that were entering Syria from Iraq by land, which resulted in the Islamic Republic moving weapons through Europe, because Europe has large ports, and the Iranian government abuses them and uses these ports as a cover to transport its weapons.
Ronen Solomon, an independent analyst in Israel, said about the shipment of these weapons: "Iran is sending weapons directly to Syria. Using separate routes through Europe is to legitimize the shipments and divert attention from the direct shipment of weapons to Syria. The reason we are seeing Iranian efforts to transfer weapons by sea is that Israel has targeted air and ground infrastructure in Syria and Lebanon, and hence we have seen an increase in container shipments."
The weapons are transported to the port of Latakia in Syria before the ships depart for the ports of Antwerp in Belgium, Valencia in Spain, and Ravenna in Italy, to keep their final destination a secret.
According to Solomon, the Iranian corridor to Syria and Lebanon is continuously active by land, air and sea. He added: "Iranian weapons also reach Hamas, and routes that include Egypt and Libya are used to send weapons to Hamas in Gaza. The movement of ships and containers through Europe, especially under the cover of companies based in countries such as Romania, helps the Iranian regime in its covert operations."
According to information obtained by Ronen Solomon regarding the arms shipments, five Iranian ships have been loaded from Bandar Abbas to Syria since Hamas began its attacks on Israel in October. The weapons were then transferred to Hezbollah, in coordination with the IRGC’s Quds Force. He continued: “Libya has also long been known as a route for weapons to Hamas via Rafah in Egypt, and this could be true of the latest shipments to Hamas, as Egyptian inspections are not carried out in the same way as in Israeli ports.
