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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.
The post Lebanon Extends Iran Flight Ban After Israeli ‘Threat,’ Hezbollah Funding Allegations first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘With or Without Russia’s Help’: Iran Pledges to Block South Caucasus Route Opened Up By Peace Deal
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – Iran will block the establishment of a US-backed transit corridor in the South Caucasus region with or without Moscow’s help, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader was quoted as saying on Saturday by the Iran International website, one day after the historic peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“Mr. Trump thinks the Caucasus is a piece of real estate he can lease for 99 years,” Ali Akbar Velayati said of the so-called Zangezur corridor, the establishment of which is stipulated in the peace deal unveiled on Friday by US President Donald Trump. The White House said the transit route would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.
“This passage will not become a gateway for Trump’s mercenaries — it will become their graveyard,” the Khamenei advisor added.
Baku and Yerevan have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting or forcing almost all of the territory’s 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Yet that painful history was put to the side on Friday at the White House, as Trump oversaw a signing ceremony, flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The peace deal with Azerbaijan—a pro-Western ally of Israel—is expected to pull Armenia out of the Russian and Iranian sphere of influence and could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighboring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran.
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UK Police Arrest 150 at Protest for Banned Palestine Action Group
People holding signs sit during a rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, August 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
London’s Metropolitan Police said on Saturday it had arrested 150 people at a protest against Britain’s decision to ban the group Palestine Action, adding it was making further arrests.
Officers made arrests after crowds, waving placards expressing support for the group, gathered in Parliament Square, the force said on X.
Protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, chanted “shame on you” and “hands off Gaza,” and held signs such as “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” video taken by Reuters at the scene showed.
In July, British lawmakers banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain’s support for Israel.
The ban makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, last week won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban.
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‘No Leniency’: Iran Announces Arrest of 20 ‘Zionist Agents’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
i24 News – Iranian authorities have in recent months arrested 20 people charged with being “Israeli Mossad operatives,” the judiciary said, adding that the Islamic regime will mete out the harshest punishments.
“The judiciary will show no leniency toward spies and agents of the Zionist regime, and with firm rulings, will make an example of them all,” spokesperson Asghar Jahangiri told Iranian media. However, it is understood that an unspecified number of detainees were released, apparently after the charges against them could not be substantiated.
The Islamic Republic was left reeling by a devastating 12-day war with Israel earlier in the summer that left a significant proportion of its military arsenal in ruins and dealt a serious setback to its uranium enrichment program. The fallout included an uptick in executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel, with at least eight death sentences carried out in recent months. Hit with international sanctions, the country is in dire economic straights, with frequent energy outages and skyrocketing unemployment.
In recent weeks Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi affirmed that Tehran cannot give up on its nuclear enrichment program even as it was severely damaged during the war.
“It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up of enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” the official told Fox News.