Silence of Israel and the US Regarding Lebanon's Decision to Suspend Flights from Iran

Israel and the United States have remained silent in response to Hezbollah's claim that these two allies secretly threatened Lebanon to prevent the entry of Iranian commercial planes carrying money for this terrorist group. According to American and Israeli researchers who spoke with Voice of America in recent days, the silence of the Israeli and American governments regarding Hezbollah's claim is an example of their cautious approach to dealing with certain regional security issues. These researchers also say that the indefinite suspension of Iranian aircraft landing rights in Lebanon, which has been in effect since February 13, will make it more difficult but not impossible to transfer cash to Hezbollah, Iran's main proxy force in the region. Beirut initiated this suspension as a "security measure" and denied landing to a scheduled flight by Mahan Airlines from Iran on the same day, leaving passengers stranded in Tehran. Lebanese officials initially announced that the halt on commercial flights from Iran would last five days but later extended it without specifying an end date. One day before the suspension of flights began, the Israeli army warned on social media X, calling for the cessation of the Quds Force's use of civilian aircraft to smuggle money to Hezbollah via Beirut airport. The warning stated that Israel would use "all available means" to ensure its security, as Hezbollah seeks to recover its financial resources after suffering heavy losses following a months-long Israeli attack that ended with a ceasefire in November. The Iranian representation at the United Nations in New York had not responded to Voice of America's request for comment on Israel's warning before this report was published. Hezbollah's Secretary-General, Naim Qassem, in a recorded speech broadcast on television on February 16, stated that the Lebanese government was warned that if it allowed Mahan Air's flight to land, Israel would bomb Beirut airport's runway. On February 19, the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar TV network attributed the cancellation of this flight to "American bullying and threats," claiming these threats included that if the Lebanese government did not agree to "restrict" Hezbollah's freedom of action, it would face "financial and political sanctions from the United States" against Lebanon. Joseph Aoun, the President of Lebanon, stated on February 18 that his government's actions against Iranian-owned airlines were "related to the sanctions imposed on them." Several Iranian airlines, including Mahan Air and Iran Air, are under sanctions from the US and the European Union, which prohibit any dealings with these companies. The Lebanese embassy in Washington did not respond to Voice of America's request for comment on whether the Lebanese government had received a warning that if Mahan Air's flight landed on February 13, Israel would bomb Beirut airport's runway. The Israeli army also refrained from commenting on this matter. The US State Department has not responded to several of Voice of America's inquiries about whether Israel's warning on February 13 was communicated to the Lebanese government through the ceasefire monitoring mechanism led by the US. Retired Israeli army brigadier general Asaf Orion, a defense researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, stated that Israel did not need to publicly issue a specific threat against Beirut airport to convey its message to Lebanon. He referred to Israel's numerous attacks on major civilian airports in Syria in Damascus and Aleppo in October and November 2023. These attacks, which temporarily incapacitated Syrian airports, were part of a years-long Israeli military campaign to prevent the shipment of Iranian weapons to Hezbollah via Syria, a country then under the control of Bashar al-Assad, an ally of the Islamic Republic. Orion said, "Look at Israel's record at Damascus International Airport. Assad, before he went into exile in December, realized that if he wanted his airport to remain operational, he had to prevent the entry of weapons shipments from Iran." Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official who runs the non-profit research institute Inside the Middle East in the US, stated that the US also typically conveys its warnings to Lebanon through a combination of private communications and public diplomacy, rather than through public threats. Morgan Ortagus, the Deputy Special Envoy for Middle East Affairs, told reporters during her visit to Lebanon on February 7 that Hezbollah should not have any role in the Lebanese government so that it cannot instill fear in the people of this country, calling this a "red line" for Washington. She did not mention the possibility of new sanctions against Lebanon. American Major General Jasper Jeffers, who entered Lebanon in November to lead the ceasefire monitoring mechanism, has said little about his activities so far. In Jeffers' last statement, released by the US embassy in Beirut on January 15, he praised the efforts of the Lebanese armed forces to "ensure the security and stability of this country." Researchers say the Islamic Republic's inability to send its civilian aircraft to the Lebanese capital will complicate the long-standing efforts of this government to transfer cash to Hezbollah. Eyal Zisser, a professor of Middle Eastern history at Tel Aviv University, stated that the Islamic Republic has alternative options for transferring money, including using Iraqi and Turkish aircraft that fly to Beirut. He said, "But if you are transferring millions of dollars through airports in Iraq and Turkey, you will need the cooperation of the authorities in those countries. Transferring money from an Iranian plane to a Turkish plane at an airport in Turkey will be a complicated process." David Daoud, from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, stated that transferring smaller amounts of cash through Iraqi and Turkish flights to Beirut would be easier for the Iranian government and more difficult for the authorities of other countries to prove as illegal activity. The Lebanese government has exercised greater control over the security of Beirut airport since last October, thereby reducing Hezbollah's influence. This group was simultaneously under pressure from Israeli attacks. However, according to David Daoud, Lebanon's decision to suspend flights from Iran, and not from other countries, indicates that the country's security strictness is still not comprehensive and uniform.