Tel Aviv: Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Wednesday announced that they have eliminated Haytham Abdullah Bakri, the head of the “Al-Sadiq” Currency Exchange, in South Lebanon.
“Haytham Abdullah Bakri, the head of the Al-Sadiq Currency Exchange who operated with Hezbollah to transfer funds for Hezbollah terrorist activities, was eliminated by the IDF in southern Lebanon,” the IDF posted on X.
The IDF stated that this currency exchange functions as a fund storage and transfer mechanism for Hezbollah, for funds originating from the Iranian Quds Force.
“These funds are used by Hezbollah for military purposes including purchasing weapons, manufacturing means, and providing salaries to operatives, and are diverted for terrorist purposes and to finance the continuation of Hezbollah’s terrorist activities,” said the IDF.
The IDF detailed that Bakri consciously worked together with the terrorist organization Hezbollah, and transferred funds for their activities including military purposes, which again included purchasing weapons, production means and transferring salaries to operatives.
The IDF had eliminated Behanam Shahriari, Commander of Unit 190 of the Iranian Quds Force, last week.
Shahriari was assassinated in a targetted strike on his car when he was traveling in western Iran.
According to the IDF, Shahriari exclusively handled and managed the mechanisms to maintain the flow of hundreds of millions of dollars, which was again channeled annually to the Quds Force and its branches.
It added that Shahriari managed the mechanisms of the channels used for transferring money from the Quds Force to Hezbollah, through offsets between exchanges in Turkey, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) along with Lebanese exchanges. He worked directly with Hezbollah and Hamas to supply weapons, rockets, and missiles that were being used against Israel.
Analysts reckon that these two assassinations are a severe blow to the Iranian funding channels for Hezbollah.
(IANS)
