Iranian embassy says Iran never benefitted from Israeli weapons

The Iranian Embassy in Lebanon issued a statement on Wednesday denying that Iran benefited from Israeli weapons in the past, adding that such false allegations aim to distort Iran’s image.

“The Islamic republic of Iran, throughout eight years of imposed war, had not benefited from any weapons from the Zionist regime whatsoever in defending its territories.”

The statement is a response to Phalange party MP Nadim Gemayel, who asked on Tuesday if the Iranians were traitors when they defended Iran during their war with Iraq in the eighties using Israeli weapons.

Gemayel was talking about historical facts.

Gemayel was actually referring to the secret arms deal between the US and Iran that started in in 1985 and evolved into a big scandal that became known as the Iran – Contra affair. The deal involved supplying US made arms by Israel to Iran against releasing 7 US hostages held by Hezbollah in Lebanon. The proceeds of the sale were used to support the Nicaragua Contras who were fighting the communists …the Cuban-backed Sandinistas. The Contras were, according to Reagan, the moral equivalent of US “Founding Fathers.”

2,008 TOW missiles and 235 parts kits for Hawk missiles were reportedly sent to Iran via Israel according to the report of the U.S. Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair issued in November 1987.

The British newspaper Observer estimated that Israel’s arms sales to Iran during the Iran-Iraq war totaled US$ 500 million annually , and Time Magazine reported that throughout 1981 and 1982, “the Israelis reportedly set up Swiss bank accounts to handle the financial end of the deals.

The embassy denied that the Iranians were dealing with the Israelis.

“Such false claims in this regard aim at distorting the image of the Islamic republic of Iran in the eyes of the public opinion in the region, but they will definitely not affect its steady policy of defending the rights of the aggrieved Palestinian people and the region’s peoples in the face of the extorter Zionist entity,” the embassy said

During a press conference on Wednesday Sami Gemayel said “the Lebanese resistance during the civil war … had no choice but to use the devil [Israel] in order to defend itself, [because] it was confronting the Syrian and Palestinian armies.”