Former UN chief: Iran likely sold weapons to Hezbollah

Ban Ki-moon, in his last report to the Security Council, said that Iran may have sold weapons to Hezbollah. 

Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon reportedly addressed his concerns about Iran with the UN Security Council a few days before completing his term, saying he suspected the Islamic Republic was violating a Security Council resolution by selling weapons to the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist group.

“In a televised speech broadcast by Al Manar TV on 24 June 2016, Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, stated that the budget of Hezbollah, its salaries, expenses, weapons and missiles all came from the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Ban wrote in the report to the UN Security Council, according to Reuters.

“I am very concerned by this statement, which suggests that transfers of arms and related material from the Islamic Republic of Iran to Hezbollah may have been undertaken contrary (to a Security Council resolution).”

UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the Iran nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany), also imposed a ban on the supply, selling and transfer of weapons from Iran. The resolution, which removed a number of international sanctions on Iran, also mandates the secretary-general to report to the UN Security Council on possible violations of the sanctions that are still in force.

Iran has neither confirmed nor denied the allegations.

“Measures undertaken by the Islamic Republic of Iran in combating terrorism and violent extremism in the region have been consistent with its national security interests and international commitments,” Iran’s mission to the UN said, according to Reuters. 

In December, two UN diplomats warned that Iran is potentially on the verge of breaching the Iran nuclear agreement if it does not slow down its process of uranium enrichment.

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News

Ban Ki-MoonHezbollahIranJCPOAUN Security Council