The Lebanese government prevented two Iranian airplanes from landing in Beirut last week after receiving warnings from the US that Israel could bomb the airport if the planes landed to prevent Iran from using the planes to transfer funds to the Hezbollah terrorist organization, AFP reported Sunday morning. On Thursday, Lebanese authorities warned their Iranian counterparts that a plane bound for Lebanon could not take off, a source told the outlet, saying, “Through the Americans, Israel informed the Lebanese state that it would target the airport if the Iranian plane landed in Lebanon." According to the source, the Americans said that the Israeli threat was "serious." A second flight from Iran to Beirut was canceled on Friday. Related articles: IDF takes out Radwan Force battalion commander France condemns Lebanon rockets, urges Israeli restraint IDF strikes dozens of targets in Lebanon UNIFIL must leave Lebanon if it cannot restructure Avichay Adraee, head of the Arab media division of the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, revealed on Wednesday that in recent weeks, the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Hezbollah terrorist organization have been exploiting Beirut's airport to smuggle funds through civilian flights. Adraee stated that these funds are intended to strengthen Hezbollah and carry out terrorist operations against Israel. He noted that the IDF is in contact with the ceasefire monitoring mechanism and is transferring relevant information to thwart these smuggling operations. However, the IDF estimates that despite these efforts, some of the money transfers have still been successful.
