Report: Iran Smuggling Arms to Syria, Hizbullah through Passenger Jets
Iran is using commercial aircraft to smuggle weapons and explosives to Syria and Hizbullah in Lebanon, the German broadcaster ZDF reported Wednesday.
Citing Western security sources, ZDF said that Iran Air and Yas Air have repeatedly used aircraft designated as passenger planes to transport weapons to the Assad regime and Hizbullah.
The mastermind behind the operation is Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, which supports the regime of President Bashar Assad and the Lebanese party, the sources told ZDF.
According to the broadcaster, Turkish security officials found weapons and explosives on board a Yas Air passenger jet in March last year.
The freight was allegedly being shipped to Damascus.
Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported on Monday that a senior commander in the Revolutionary Guards has admitted that Iranian forces are operating in Syria in support of the regime.
Ismail Gha'ani, the deputy head of Iran's Quds force, the arm of the Revolutionary Guards tasked with overseas operations, said in an interview with the semi-official Isna news agency: "If the Islamic republic was not present in Syria, the massacre of people would have happened on a much larger scale."
Isna published the interview at the weekend but subsequently removed it from its website.
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