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Iran Is Using Lebanon’s Airport to Fund Terrorism; The World Must Respond
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian speaks during a press conference upon arrival at Beirut international airport, Lebanon February 9, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
The Lebanese government has a choice to make — reclaim effective control of its main international airport from Hezbollah, or see that air hub destroyed by the Israel Defense Forces. As government ministers in Beirut ponder their decision, Washington can help.
For the past year, Beirut’s Rafic Hariri international airport has been the main gateway for Iran’s resupply of weapons to Hezbollah, its terror proxy in Lebanon. Hezbollah’s full control of the airport has allowed Iran to easily resupply its allies there.
But not anymore.
Hours after Israel’s successful elimination of Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, on September 28, an Iranian cargo plane left Tehran’s international airport for Beirut. But upon entering Lebanon’s airspace, the control tower — under threat of Israeli kinetic action — denied landing permission to the aircraft, which turned around and headed back to Iran.
Data obtained from an open source — commercial flight tracker FlightRadar24 — show that subsequent Iranian flights, on October 1, October 5 and October 7, also failed to reach Beirut, also reportedly due to Israeli interdiction.
The Israeli Air Force has closed the Tehran-Beirut air resupply route: Iranian cargo has now been diverted to Latakia, Syria, with weapons then continuing by truck to Lebanon through border crossings that Israel’s air force has also been targeting.
For Israel, blocking the flow of Iranian weapons into Lebanon is essential to preventing Hezbollah from reconstituting its arsenal. But the cat-and-mouse game in the skies of the Levant is not a long-term solution, as long as Hezbollah controls Lebanon’s only civilian, commercial, international airport.
Breaking Hezbollah’s grip on the relevant arms of the Lebanese government is the only way to ensure Iran can no longer replenish Hezbollah’s arsenal.
Previously, Israel’s air interdiction had focused on Syria, which for years had been the key destination for Iranian weapons deliveries. Israeli precision strikes on Syrian runways and weapons warehouses led to the Iranian shift toward Beirut — especially after October 7, 2023, when Hezbollah joined Hamas in its onslaught against Israel’s civilian population.
The Iranian carrier Mahan Air — which the US Department of the Treasury has repeatedly sanctioned for transporting weapons, militias, and illicit procurement on Iran’s behalf — began flying into Beirut at least weekly.
With hostilities escalating from cross-border exchanges into a full-fledged conflict, Mahan flights have stopped going to Beirut, but continue to head into Latakia, Syria, alongside other carriers, including a cargo Boeing 747 operated by Fars Air Qeshm, a US sanctioned Iranian regime proxy of Mahan Air, previously involved, on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ Qods Force, in the transfer of weaponry to Syria and other destinations — including, reportedly, Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Sudan — since 2017.
With Israel methodically hitting Hezbollah’s hidden weapons caches across Lebanon, the only way Iran can ensure Hezbollah can live to fight another day is to resume these deliveries. That is why, despite international airlines having cancelled all flights to Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International airport, Iranian carriers are scrambling to make it there.
Despite the trappings of state institutions formally running Lebanon’s transport and travel infrastructure — airports and ports authorities, airport security, customs, and a ministry of public transports — Hezbollah officials control or have heavily infiltrated them, thereby enabling Hezbollah’s activities rather than preventing them.
For years now, Hezbollah has suborned the airport to its needs: Drug shipments from Latin America go unchecked through security and customs, before they reach lucrative Middle East markets in exchange for a fee paid to the Hezbollah officials who clear the illicit merchandise. And weapons shipments have come in regularly from Iran, before being offloaded and stored nearby.
Hezbollah’s continuing grip on Beirut’s airport will sooner or later make the airport a target for Israeli action.
Washington and its allies can help remedy this situation.
First, Hezbollah officials implicated in turning Lebanon’s points of entry into smuggling machines should be sanctioned. Under President Trump, the US Department of the Treasury targeted Wafiq Safa, the man in charge of security at Beirut’s airport.
According to Treasury, Safa — the head of Hezbollah’s security apparatus — “exploited Lebanon’s ports and border crossings to smuggle contraband and facilitate travel on behalf of Hizballah, undermining the security and safety of the Lebanese people, while also draining valuable import duties and revenue away from the Lebanese government.” But that was five years ago. More pressure is needed, including on the Hezbollah-backed minister of public transports, Ali Hamieh.
The European Union spent 3.5 million euro to bolster Beirut’s airport security in 2020, and recently pledged another billion euro to help Lebanon’s fledgling economy and strengthen state institutions, including the improvement of border management and security — all after Lebanon’s airport chief had been sanctioned by the US.
Holding the Lebanese government responsible for failing to use European taxpayer funds for the purposes for which they were earmarked should become a first priority, making any future security aid conditional on removing any Hezbollah officials from the public transport and infrastructure sector.
Lebanon is at a crossroads. If its government can be convinced to degrade Hezbollah infiltration of its government institutions, such as its international airport, it stands a chance to get back on its feet. The alternative is that, having relinquished control over its international border crossings to Hezbollah and Iran, it will risk losing its only gateway to the world to IDF action. That would be a tragedy for Lebanon — but an inevitable casualty of a conflict for which Lebanon’s authorities have only themselves to blame.
Emanuele Ottolenghi is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a non-partisan research institute in Washington, DC, focusing on foreign policy and national security. Follow him on X @eottolenghi
The post Iran Is Using Lebanon’s Airport to Fund Terrorism; The World Must Respond first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Lebanon Says It Is Beginning Disarmament of Palestinian Factions in Refugee Camps
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanon said on Thursday it was launching the planned disarmament of Palestinian factions in refugee camps, part of a wider effort to establish a state monopoly on arms.
The planned disarmament was starting with the handover of weapons on Thursday from the Burj al-Barajneh camp in Beirut to the Lebanese army, the Lebanese prime minister’s office said.
The move is meant to mark the start of a broader disarmament effort, with additional deliveries expected in the coming weeks from Burj al-Barajneh and other camps across the country, the office said in a statement.
An official from Fatah told Reuters that the only weapons being handed over so far were illegal arms that entered the camp 24 hours ago. TV footage showed army vehicles entering the camp ahead of a handover. Reuters could not independently verify what arms were being handed over.
As part of a truce with Israel struck in November and backed by the United States, Lebanon committed to restricting arms to six specific state security forces, in a challenge to Iran-backed Shi’ite Muslim terror group Hezbollah.
The cabinet has tasked the army with drawing up a plan to establish a state monopoly on arms by the end of the year.
The initiative to disarm Palestinian factions is part of an agreement reached during a May 21 summit between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, which affirmed Lebanon‘s sovereignty and the principle that only the state should bear arms, the statement from the prime minister’s office said.
Two days later, Lebanese and Palestinian officials agreed on a timeline and mechanism for disarmament, the statement said.
Palestinian factions have long operated with relative autonomy in several of Lebanon‘s 12 refugee camps, which fall largely outside the jurisdiction of the Lebanese state. The latest handover represents the most serious bid in years to address weapons held inside the camps.
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Netanyahu Escalates Attack on Australia’s Albanese as Jewish Group Urges Calm
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference, in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday stepped up his personal attacks on Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese over his government’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state, saying Albanese‘s political record had been damaged forever.
Diplomatic ties between Australia and Israel have soured since Albanese‘s center-left Labor government last week announced it would conditionally recognize Palestinian statehood, following similar moves by France, Britain, and Canada.
The decision prompted Netanyahu to launch a personal attack on Albanese, and he doubled down on his condemnation in an interview to be broadcast on Sky News Australia.
“I think his record is forever tarnished by the weakness that he showed in the face of this Hamas terrorist monsters,” Netanyahu said, after describing Albanese earlier this week as “a weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews.”
Sky News Australia released the comments ahead of the broadcast of the full interview on Thursday at 8 pm (1000 GMT).
Albanese on Wednesday played down Netanyahu‘s criticisms, saying he did not “take these things personally” and that he treated the leaders of other countries with respect.
Last week, Albanese said the Israeli prime minister was “in denial” about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where Israel has been waging a military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry in separate letters sent on Wednesday to both leaders urged them to discuss differences through diplomacy rather than public posturing.
“We write to express our deep dismay and concern at the recent ‘war of words,’” the letters said.
“If things need to be said publicly, they should be said using measured and seemly language befitting national leaders. Australia and Israel are mature democracies, and their governments need to act accordingly,” the council said.
Israel this week revoked the visas of Australian diplomats to the Palestinian Authority after Albanese‘s government canceled the visa of an Israeli lawmaker over remarks it considered controversial and inflammatory.
Israel’s military announced the first steps of an operation to take control of Gaza City on Wednesday, calling up tens of thousands of reservists despite many of Israel’s closest allies calling for it to reconsider.
The offensive began after Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 more hostage. Israel is currently considering a new ceasefire proposal.
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Iran Holds Military Drills After Big Losses in War With Israel
An Iranian missile is launched during a military exercise in an undisclosed location in Iran, Aug. 20, 2025. Photo: Iranian Army/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iran on Thursday launched its first solo military exercises since its June war with Israel, state media reported, seeking to reassert an image of strength after suffering heavy losses.
Navy units of Iran‘s regular armed forces fired missiles and drones at open water targets in the Indian Ocean under the “Sustainable Power 1404” drill, state television reported.
“These drills take place around a month after the Iran-Russia drill under the name Casarex 2025 which took place in Iran‘s northern waters [Caspian Sea]. The Sustainable Power drills … are in Iran‘s southern waters,” state TV said.
Israel attacked Iran in a 12-day air war which the United States briefly joined, pounding key nuclear installations and killing top military commanders and nuclear scientists.
Israel largely destroyed Iran‘s air defenses during the war and much of its stockpile of ballistic weapons is believed to have been damaged by Israeli strikes.
Since then, the Islamic Republic has said it is ready to counter any future attacks.
“Any new adventure by the enemy will be faced with a strong slap,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to strike Iran again if it revives nuclear facilities including uranium enrichment plants.
Tehran suspended negotiations with Washington aimed at curbing the country’s nuclear ambitions after the Israeli and US airstrikes. Iran denies any intent to develop atomic bombs.
Iran believes the moment for “effective” nuclear talks with the US has not yet arrived, its top diplomat said on Wednesday, though Tehran would not completely cut off cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.