Lebanon seizes $2.5M in cash intended for Hezbollah at Beirut airport
Lebanese officials say a traveler from Turkey was detained and $2.5 million in cash was confiscated at the Beirut airport.
Authorities at Lebanon’s Beirut Rafic Hariri Airport seized $2.5 million in cash allegedly intended for Hezbollah from a passenger arriving from Turkey on Friday.
Lebanon’s Finance Ministry said that the passenger, who had concealed $2.5 million in US currency, was detained by the Lebanese Customs Directorate at the airport and will be handed over for investigation by the Directorate of General Security, per instructions by the public prosecutor’s office. The ministry made no mention of Hezbollah, but three sources told Reuters that the cash was bound for Hezbollah.
Earlier this month, Lebanon barred two Iranian airlines, Mahan Air and Iran Air, from flying into Beirut's airport following accusations by the Israeli military that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was smuggling funds to Hezbollah via their flights to Beirut.
Hundreds of Hezbollah supporters gathered along the main road to the airport to protest the decision on Feb. 13. The protests lasted several days until the Lebanese government deployed the army to quell them, firing tear gas and arresting more than 25 demonstrators.
Know more: The Tehran-based Mahan Air airlines is subject to US and EU sanctions over its alleged links to the IRGC and for allegedly supplying weapons, equipment and funds to Iranian proxy groups in the region including Hezbollah in Lebanon.
But after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in neighboring Syria on Dec. 8, 2024, and the closure of Syrian airspace to its aircraft, Iran has reportedly sought alternative means to reach its proxy group in Lebanon.
A US defense official revealed to the Wall Street Journal in January that Israel had complained to Washington about Iran using Turkish citizens to smuggle money to Beirut.
Established in 1982 to fight the Israeli occupation of Lebanon at the time, Hezbollah has evolved from a small militia to a major political player in Lebanon. But the group incurred heavy losses during its latest war with Israel, including the near total loss of its leadership. The two parties engaged in heavy cross-border fighting starting Oct. 8, 2023, that escalated into a full-blown war in September 2024. A US-brokered ceasefire agreement ended the hostilities on Nov. 27, 2024.
The election of Western-backed Joseph Aoun as president in January was seen as another blow to the group and to Iran's influence in the country. Upon being sworn in, Aoun promised he would work to ensure the state’s monopoly on weapons — a promise lauded by Hezbollah’s political opposition in Lebanon.
A further blow was dealt earlier this week when Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s appointed cabinet was approved by Lebanon’s parliament. The cabinet, appointed in early February, was tasked with drafting a ministerial statement — a document outlining the goals and priorities of the new government — to submit to the parliament. In a departure from 20 years of precedent, the statement made no mention of “armed resistance,” a term used to acknowledge Hezbollah’s presence in Lebanon.
