A Western intelligence source told The Jerusalem Post that Tehran had made several attempts to smuggle weapons from Iran to Hezbollah by sea via the Port of Beirut.
Following former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s downfall, Iran has found it difficult to smuggle arms to Hezbollah via its usual land routes. Its ability to do so has been significantly reduced.
Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport no longer receives frequent cargo flights from Iran either, making the oceanic route increasingly relevant for smuggling attempts.
The Beirut port explosion
The use of Beirut’s seaport to this end was surprising, given that it had been out of commission since a massive explosion occurred there in August 2020.
Over 200 people died as a result of that blast, and over 7,000 people were wounded.
The blast emanated from a warehouse storing 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate – the equivalent in power to 1,000 tons of TNT. Since then, the port has only been partially restored.
According to the source, Hezbollah was now using it again for its own purposes.
A recent report on the Saudi Arabian Al-Hadath channel said that Iran has been relying on direct maritime smuggling routes to Lebanon or through an intermediary country.
The operations are reportedly handled by Unit 190 and Unit 700 of the Quds Force, who are responsible for naval arms smuggling to Hezbollah.
The source’s statement to the Post highlighted the extent to which Hezbollah continues to seek creative ways to arm itself, even after a year and a half of warfare with the Jewish state.
Israel, in turn, in an effort to prevent the organization from rearming and growing stronger, continues to try and foil Hezbollah’s attempts to transfer shipments of weapons by sea, including via conducting attacks along land border areas.