Lebanon denies Beirut arms smuggling claim

Lebanon denied reports on Wednesday that arms are being smuggled through Beirut Port, stressing that the port is “firmly under control”, Anadolu has reported.

Addressing a news conference in Beirut, Minister of Public Works and Transport Fayez Rasamny said that there is no evidence that weapons are being smuggled through the port.

“I have requested enhanced and tightened surveillance at the Beirut port,” explained the minister. Although he said that smuggling may have occurred in another place, he did not elaborate further. “The same security measures applied at Beirut Airport are enforced at the seaport,” he added.

On Tuesday, the Saudi-run Al-Arabiya TV station cited an unnamed source and said that the Hezbollah movement has shifted its focus to Beirut Port as its primary means of smuggling weapons. Land routes, it said, have become difficult since the ouster of the Bashar Al-Assad regime in Syria.

The news outlet claimed that Al-Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is overseeing the maritime smuggling operations, either directly to Lebanon or through intermediary countries.

There was no immediate comment from either Hezbollah or Iran about the allegation.

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