The US has information that the Russian mercenary organization Wagner plans to give to Hezbollahthe Iranian-backed Lebanese paramilitary organization, air defense systemas reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed US officials.
The newspaper reported that Wagner plans to give the Pantsir-S1 system, known from NATO as SA-22, which uses anti-aircraft missiles and anti-aircraft defense weapons to intercept aircraft, as reported by APE-MPE. The Russian state-funded Wagner organization came under strict Kremlin control after the failed coup of its former head, Yevgeny Prigozhinin June, did not respond to a request for comment.
An unnamed US official said, according to the newspaper, that Washington has not confirmed the mission of the system. However, US officials are monitoring discussions involving Wagner and Hezbollah, according to the report. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Pantsir system will be given to Hezbollah via Syriawhere Russia backed President Bashar al-Assad by intervening in the civil war there in 2015.
The Guards of the Revolution of Iran founded Hezbollah in 1982 in the midst of the 1975-90 civil war in Lebanon. The move was one of Iran’s efforts to ‘export’ its 1979 Islamic revolution to the surrounding region and fight Israeli forces after their 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Lebanon’s Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with Israeli forces across the border since war broke out between its Gaza ally Hamas and Israel on October 7.
Source: News Beast
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