Hezbollah soldiers hold the organization's flags to mark Resistance Day in the village of Qila in southern Lebanon May 25, 2021 (Photo: Reuters)
An order signed by Defense Minister Yoav Galant reveals Hezbollah's axis of terrorist financing through gold smuggling.
The order reveals that during last May, tens of kilograms of gold were smuggled on a flight of the Iranian airline Mahan Air, which is subject to American sanctions, from Venezuela to Tehran.
From the sale of the smuggled gold, funding was transferred to Hezbollah.
The smuggling axis was revealed following a joint activity of the intelligence agencies and the National Headquarters for Economic Combating Terrorism (NEC) in the Ministry of Defense (a body established in 2018 and operating under the direct authority of the Minister of Defense, AB) with the assistance of the police, the Tax Authority and the Authority for the Prohibition of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing.
According to security sources, a key factor in the axis of financing and transferring the gold is Badr ad-Din Naimi Mousavi, an Iranian businessman with world-wide businesses.
He owns real estate companies in the UK - Lotus Universal and Strattonview Properties Limited - and an international trading company in Dubai Trading Acs.
According to the order, Mousavi serves as an aide to the Iranian Quds Force, managing a secret operation in which he purchases gold in Venezuela, taking advantage of his business and political connections and thus constitutes a cover for the activities of the Quds Force in the country.
He is responsible for smuggling the gold from Venezuela through direct flights to Iran and from there for sale at a profit in order to finance the activities of the terrorist organization Hezbollah.
According to security sources, senior officials of the Hezbollah organization subject to American sanctions for their involvement in terrorism are also involved in this funding line, including Ali Kasir - the representative of Hezbollah's Ministry of Economic Affairs in Tehran, as well as Mohammad Kasir, the head of Unit 4400 (Hezbollah's logistics unit, AB) who deals with the transfer of Quds Force money to Hezbollah to finance the organization.
Mousavi even took part in a delegation of the Quds Force to Venezuela, together with the CEO of the Iranian airline "Mehan Air" Hamid Evranjad, as part of Iran's efforts to increase its influence in South American countries as a basis for financing and promoting terrorist activity. Another layer in the campaign and damage to the Hezbollah organization and the terrorist activity it promotes.
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Army and security
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Iran
Hezbollah
Venezuela
