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Israel discloses Iranian-led Hezbollah missile project Iran transferred missile equipment to Lebanon after Israeli strikes
On Thursday, The Israeli army revealed details of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia’s precision missile project led by Iran. Pictures and names of involved Lebanese and Iranian figures were also published.
It was reported after a video footage published by Israeli army spokesman, Avichay Adraee, on his social media accounts, that Iran began attempts to transfer precision-ready missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon via Syria between 2013-2015.
The precision missile carries guiding devices that can hit targets a few meters away. It can also carry explosives and a warhead. Most of the rockets in Hezbollah's arsenal rely on inaccurate weapons of various dimensions.
The Israeli army confirmed that most of these attempts were thwarted in air strikes, which prevented the Lebanese Hezbollah from obtaining the missiles.
Given this failure, Iran decided in 2016 to fundamentally change its working methods to converting existing missiles into precision missiles on Lebanese territory rather than moving full missiles.
As a first step, audit materials from Iran as well as rockets from the Syrian Research Institute, have been transferred to Lebanese territory for Hezbollah.
In cooperation with Iranian entities headed by Mohammad Hussein Zadeh Hijazi, commander of the Lebanese Force in the Quds Force which is led by Qassem Soleimani, Hezbollah began rehabilitation of positions inside Lebanon including the capital Beirut.
The IDF said that the materials had been transported through three axes: the first one was from Syria to Lebanon through the official crossings of the Lebanese state such as al-Masnaa crossing.
The second was airlifted by civilian flights landing at Beirut's Hariri International Airport. The third was through the seaport of Beirut.
During 2016-2018, Iran and Hezbollah faced difficulties in implementing the missile conversion plan and failed to achieve the desired goal.
Recently, Iran and Hezbollah are seeking to accelerate the precision missile project by attempting to establish production and conversion sites on Lebanese territory in several areas.
The Israeli army has announced senior figures involved in the precision missile project including Brigadier-General Mohammad Hussein Zadeh Hijazi, commander of the Lebanese force in the Quds Force, who is leading the precision missile project.
Among the figures is Colonel Majid Nawab, the project's technology officer who works under the guidance of the Quds Force led by Qassem Soleimani. He is an expert in the field of surface-to-surface missiles and oversees the technological aspects of the project.
Israeli army stated that Brigadier-General Ali Asghar Norouzi, head of the Revolutionary Guards' logistics body, was in charge of transporting logistical materials and equipment from Iran to Syria then to the precision missile sites in Lebanon.
Fouad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah commander, is leading the precision missile project. Shukr is a senior adviser to Hezbollah's secretary-general and member of the party's senior body and has been serving the party for 30 years.
