The German 2-stroke engine manufacturer 3-W International has come under fire after one of their motors was found in the wreckage of a Hezbollah attack drone that was deployed near Kibbutz Dan in Upper Galilee on Sunday.
When approached for comment on the matter by Israel’s i24 News, the firm’s managing director, Kai Weinhold, denied that the company sold any materials to Tehran while acknowledging “the engine shown in the pictures looks like an engine manufactured by 3W."
"It is terrible that our engines appear to be used by terrorist organizations for such acts," he added before stating that the Bad Homburg-based LLC "cannot control the resale of our products and cannot protect ourselves against them being resold for terrorist and criminal purposes.”
Jason Brodsky, the policy director for United Against Nuclear Iran, told the news outlet that "3W was already on notice that its parts have wound up in drones from Iran’s proxy and partner network," ahead of suggesting the implementation of “better due diligence and export restrictions on these parts coming from Europe."
Looks like parts from the German company 3W-International were found in a downed #Hezbollah drone in #Israel overnight. 3W's parts have been previously found in downed Houthi drones as well like the Samad-2. pic.twitter.com/b7i3OYhRJp
— Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) August 25, 2024
The discovery follows an announcement by Spanish authorities in July, revealing that several Lebanese nationals were arrested in Germany and Spain on suspicion of being part of a group responsible for the sourcing of components for Hezbollah’s unmanned aerial vehicles.
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