PM: Iran paying Hezbollah $700 million a year as part of its ‘endless aggression’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses Iran of funding Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group to the tune of $700 million a year as part of its “endless aggression” in the Middle East.

“Every year Iran transfers to its protege Hezbollah $700 million. But it does it in different ways including through fraud. In that framework the Iranian Foreign Ministry transfers more than $100 million to the terror organization. The money is transferred under diplomatic cover, so to speak, to Lebanon and from there to Hezbollah,” Netanyahu says during a ceremony at Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem marking the anniversary of the city’s unification following the 1967 Six Day War.

Netanyahu says Iran’s backing for Hezbollah and other armed groups in the region also threatens Arab states, which has brought them closer to Israel.

“These enormous amounts are used to fuel the endless aggression by Iran and its satellites in our region. Our neighbors know this, all the Arab states know it, and that is one of the things bringing them to a renewed closeness with us,” the prime minister says.

“We do not underestimate Iran’s threats, but we do not shrink from them either, because those who try to harm us will be hit a lot harder,” he adds.