The Iran regime has spent the last two years supplying terror groups and criminal gangs in the West Bank with weapons to destabilize the area, according to a report by The New York Times.
Iranian officials told the newspaper that there is no specific group that the munitions are prioritized for, as the goal of the operation is to create a general breakdown in security.
The article stated that Tehran is primarily using Bedouin smugglers to transport the contraband across Israel’s 300-mile border with Jordan. Unlike other neighboring countries, much of the Jewish state’s eastern boundary lacks the security measures often found in other areas.
The preferred Jordanian land route is also a result of the increased military presence that Israel has placed on its northern border since the start of the war in Gaza.
The illicit deliveries reportedly consist of mostly single-person equipment such as rifles, handguns, anti-tank missiles, and rocket-propelled grenades.
U.S. sources told The Times that a series of airstrikes by Israel in late March were directed at IRGC units in Syria, who coordinate the distribution of the deadly consignments.
Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet, responded to the article saying that it “takes very seriously involvement in activities directed by Iran and its affiliates and will continue to carry out active measures at all times to monitor and thwart any activity that endangers the security of the state of Israel.”
In August, the Israel Defense Forces announced that they had successfully intercepted one of the shipments in question. The seizure followed the April arrest of a Jordanian lawmaker, Imad al-Adwan, who was caught trying to transport over 200 firearms at the Allenby Bridge border crossing.
Related Story: Israeli Security Forces Intercepted Iran-Made Weapons from Border with Jordan
