Customs officials at Beirut Airport arrested a man on Friday arriving from Turkey with a bag containing $1.4 million in cash, a security source said, as intense debate continues over allegations of Iranian money being smuggled to Hezbollah.
The militant group has suffered significant losses during the recent war with Israel, which has targeted its financial institutions with air strikes. Israel has also threatened to attack Lebanon’s only airport if it permits the transfer of funds to the embattled group.
"A man arriving from Turkey was arrested at the airport today. He had $1.4 million in cash in a bag. Security personnel found him suspicious, so they searched him and discovered the money," the Lebanese security source told The National.
"Individuals carrying large sums are being questioned, and there is heightened scrutiny over money entering the country. Others may have managed to bring money in, but this person was caught,” the source added. When asked whether the funds were intended for Hezbollah, the security source said the “interrogation is still ongoing”. Lebanese customs issued a statement confirming the arrest of a man carrying a bag full of cash.
Last month, Lebanon's Rafic Hariri International Airport was put on a state of alert on over suspicion that an aircraft carrying a delegation from Iran might contain funds intended for Hezbollah. Members of the delegation aboard the Iranian Air Mahan flight attempted to bar Lebanese security officials from searching the plane.
Six weeks later, Lebanon decided to indefinitely suspend flights to and from Iran after Israel's military accused Tehran of using civilian planes to smuggle cash to arm the Lebanese militant group. The move could temporarily affect rearmament and the reconstruction effort in the devastated south of Lebanon, where residents complain of delays to compensation payments offered by Hezbollah.
It sparked days of violent protests by Hezbollah supporters near the airport, including one incident in which a peacekeeping vehicle was set on fire and the outgoing deputy commander of the force and a Nepalese soldier were injured. Hezbollah urged the Lebanese government to reverse the decision, calling it “compliance with the enemy’s dictates”, in reference to Israel.
Iran has long been accused of providing funding and weapons to Hezbollah, mainly through the porous Lebanon-Syria border. But the fall of the Syrian dictator Bashar Al Assad’s regime in a lightning offensive in December deprived the group of a key ally and disrupted traditional supply routes, reportedly increasing the importance of Beirut airport as an alternative.
Hezbollah, once considered one of the world's most heavily armed groups, is in urgent need of funding to rebuild its forces. Months of heavy cross-border fighting with Israel, which Israel escalated into a full-scale war in mid-September, have dealt a significant blow to the group. During the war, the Israeli military eliminated much of Hezbollah's top leadership, destroying infrastructure and targeting its arsenal.
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
Company%C2%A0profile
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
States of Passion by Nihad Sirees,
Pushkin Press
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
More coverage from the Future Forum
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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