Iran International, a Persian-language television channel broadcasting from London and identified with opponents of Iran’s clerical regime, reported on Tuesday evening that it had uncovered the identities of six Iranian diplomats who, in recent months, allegedly flew to Beirut carrying suitcases containing hundreds of millions of dollars in cash using their diplomatic passports to avoid inspection.
According to the report, the money was transferred to Hezbollah as part of Iran’s funding of the terror organization, which is now working to rebuild its capabilities after the blows it suffered from Israel during the Swords of Iron war.
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Mohammad Ebrahim Taherian-Fard, circled in red, alongside Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi (center) on a flight to Beirut on January 8
Iran International reported that, in addition to the six diplomats named, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, were also involved in the cash transfers to Hezbollah. The opposition channel said that on Araghchi’s flight to Beirut on January 8 a man identified as Mohammad Ebrahim Taherian-Fard was documented traveling alongside him. “He was carrying a suitcase full of dollars for Hezbollah, confident that with a diplomatic passport no one would inspect his luggage,” the report claimed.
Taherian-Fard, 70, previously served as Iran’s ambassador to Turkey and in the past decade was also a special aide to then–foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. He also served as the Islamic Republic’s special envoy to Afghanistan and, according to Iran International, positions of this kind are often filled by figures close to the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Another diplomat alleged to have taken part in the transfers is 69-year-old Mohammad-Reza Shirhodaei, chairman of the board of a company that provides various services to Iran’s Foreign Ministry, including document screening. “This company serves as an intermediary for laundering funds from tainted transactions of the Foreign Ministry,” the report claimed. Hamid-Reza, Shirhodaei’s older brother, reportedly “recently traveled to Beirut with suitcases full of dollars and a diplomatic passport.”
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Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem. Working to rehabilitate the terrorist organization, with the help of patron Iran
According to the report, Ali Larijani traveled to Beirut in October and also transferred funds to Hezbollah. “At the time, a Lebanese newspaper reported that he was carrying $300 million in cash in his suitcases. Sources close to the Lebanese president denied the report, but an intelligence source in a European country told Iran International that the cash transfer did indeed take place,” the channel said.
While Iran International’s reports should be treated with a degree of caution, the allegation that Iran uses civilian aircraft to transfer funds to Hezbollah is not new. Last year, for example, supporters of the terror group rioted outside Beirut’s airport after the Lebanese government prevented an Iranian plane—suspected of carrying large sums of cash for Hezbollah—from landing, amid Israeli threats to act against the airport if such flights continued.
Last month, Lebanon’s MTV network reported that security services at Beirut airport “prevented the entry of four suitcases belonging to the Iranian delegation accompanying Foreign Minister Araghchi, and returned them to the plane.”