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Lebanon Extends Iran Flight Ban After Israeli ‘Threat,’ Hezbollah Funding Allegations
Supporters of Hezbollah attend a protest organized by them against what they said was a violation of national sovereignty, near Beirut international airport, Lebanon, Feb. 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Emilie Madi
Lebanon’s cabinet on Monday extended a suspension of flights to and from Iran, previously set to expire on Tuesday, with no set date for resumption.
The decision followed Beirut’s barring of an Iranian Mahan Air flight last week. Lebanon’s ban came after Israel accused Tehran of using civilian planes to smuggle cash to Beirut to arm the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah and warned of possible military action against such flights.
In response on Friday, Iran barred Lebanese planes from repatriating dozens of Lebanese nationals stranded in the country, saying it would not allow Lebanese flights to land until its own flights were able to land in Beirut.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said that Israel had threatened a passenger plane carrying Lebanese citizens from Tehran, “which caused a disruption in the country’s normal flights to Beirut airport.” He also condemned the alleged Israeli threat as a violation of international law.
The standoff has left dozens of Lebanese citizens stranded in Iran for days after attending a religious pilgrimage.
In a post on X/Twitter last week, Israel’s military spokesman Avichay Adraee said Iran’s elite Quds Force, which is responsible for overseeing the Iranian regime’s terrorist proxies abroad, and Hezbollah had previously used civilian flights to smuggle arms and money to Beirut.
“The IDF will not allow Hezbollah to arm itself and will use all means at its disposal to enforce the ceasefire understandings in order to ensure the security of the citizens of the State of Israel,” Adraee said.
Sources told the Israeli news outlet Ynet that Israeli intelligence had identified millions of dollars in cash aboard the Iranian aircraft, reportedly intended to help Hezbollah recover from its military losses to Israel over the past year.
The ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon, which was struck in November and stopped a year of fighting between the Jewish state and Hezbollah, stipulates that only “official military and security forces” in Lebanon can carry arms and that the Lebanese government must prevent any transfers of arms or related material to non-state armed groups.
In Lebanon, the flight ban sparked protests from pro-Hezbollah supporters, who blocked roads leading to Beirut’s airport and attacked a UN convoy.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, leader of the Shiite Amal movement and an ally of Hezbollah, called for direct negotiations between Iran and Lebanon to resolve the issue.
“We cannot allow the enemy to dictate our decisions as they are trying to do,” Berri said. “We are not an Israeli colony, and we will not become one.”
Last week, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Joe Raggi told Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed that his ministry was working to resolve the issue with Iranian counterparts.
On Monday, Israel said it would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the Feb. 18 ceasefire deadline for their withdrawal, as Israeli leaders sought to reassure northern residents that they can return home safely.
Tens of thousands of residents in northern Israel were forced to evacuate their homes last year and in late 2023 amid unrelenting barrages of rockets, missiles, and drones from Hezbollah, which expressed solidarity with Hamas amid the Gaza war.
Last fall, Israel decimated much of Hezbollah’s leadership and military capabilities with an air and ground offensive, which ended with the ceasefire. Under the deal, Israel was given 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where the Lebanese army and UN forces are supposed to enter and provide security as Hezbollah disarms and withdraws away from Israel’s northern border.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with government officials in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2025. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Donald Trump on Saturday of lying when the US president said during his Gulf tour this week that he wanted peace in the region.
On the contrary, said Khamenei, the United States uses its power to give “10-ton bombs to the Zionist (Israeli) regime to drop on the heads of Gaza’s children.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the United Arab Emirates on Friday that Iran had to move quickly on a US proposal for its nuclear program or “something bad’s going to happen.”
His remarks, said Khamenei, “aren’t even worth responding to.” They are an “embarrassment to the speaker and the American people,” Khamenei added.
“Undoubtedly, the source of corruption, war, and conflict in this region is the Zionist regime — a dangerous, deadly cancerous tumor that must be uprooted; it will be uprooted,” he said at an event at a religious center in Tehran, according to state media.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Trump speaks about peace while simultaneously making threats.
“Which should we believe?” Pezeshkian said at a naval event in Tehran. “On the one hand, he speaks of peace and on the other, he threatens with the most advanced tools of mass killing.”
Tehran would continue Iran-US nuclear talks but is not afraid of threats. “We are not seeking war,” Pezeshkian said.
While Trump said on Friday that Iran had a US proposal about its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a post on X said Tehran had not received any such proposal. “There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to (uranium) enrichment for peaceful purposes…” he said.
Araqchi warned on Saturday that Washington’s constant change of stance prolongs nuclear talks, state TV reported.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that America repeatedly defines a new framework for negotiations that prolongs the process,” the broadcast quoted Araqchi as saying.
Pezeshkian said Iran would not “back down from our legitimate rights”.
“Because we refuse to bow to bullying, they say we are source of instability in the region,” he said.
A fourth round of Iran-U.S. talks ended in Oman last Sunday. A new round has not been scheduled yet.
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Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday
Doha, Qatar. Photo: StellarD via Wikimedia Commons.
A new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel is underway in Qatar’s Doha, Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Reuters on Saturday.
He said the two sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.”
Nono said Hamas was “keen to exert all the effort needed” to help mediators make the negotiations a success, adding there was “no certain offer on the table.”
The negotiations come despite Israel preparing to expand operations in the Gaza Strip as they seek “operational control” in some areas of the war-torn enclave.
The return to negotiations also comes after US President Donald Trump ended a Middle East tour on Friday with no apparent progress towards a new ceasefire, although he acknowledged Gaza’s growing hunger crisis and the need for aid deliveries.
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Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan has stepped down temporarily as an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct by United Nations investigators is nearing its final phase, Reuters reported on Friday citing sources from the international court.
Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, linking the allegations to Khan’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.
A statement is expected later today announcing that Khan is going on administrative leave, according to a source in the prosecutor’s office.
The post Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe first appeared on Algemeiner.com.