US cables: Iran armed Hezbollah through ambulances

[May 10, 2011]  BEIRUT (AP) -- Newly leaked U.S. diplomatic cables say Iranian Red Crescent ambulances were used to smuggle weapons to Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group during its 2006 war with Israel.

The cables say that the IRC shipments of medical supplies "served also to facilitate weapons shipments."

Hezbollah and Israel fought a 34-day war that killed 1,200 Lebanese and 160 Israelis.

The release of more than 250,000 classified State Department documents occurred this week by online whistleblower WikiLeaks.

According to one of the cables, a person whose name was not published "had seen missiles in the planes destined for Lebanon when delivering medical supplies to the plane."

Iran allegedly funds the militant group to the tune of millions of dollars a year and is suspected of supplying much of its arsenal.

[Associated Press]

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