UN finds Iranian weapons in Libyan conflict

"According to the Secretariat's analysis of the photographs obtained on the ground, it can be stated that one of the four anti-tank guided missiles has characteristics consistent with Iranian Dehlavieh", this is how forceful the report presented by the United Nations Secretary General, the Portuguese António Guterres, is. However, the report also adds that "it cannot be confirmed that the transfer of this material violates Resolution 2231 of 2015", in reference to the blockade on the purchase and sale of weapons that weighed on Iran, which was lifted in October.

The photographs that would prove the presence of Iranian weapons before the sanctions were lifted were allegedly provided by Israel in May, together with the denunciation of the failure to comply with the sanctions imposed on Iran. Teheran's response was quick. In a letter sent to Guterres, Iran categorically rejected Israel's accusations, calling them unjustified. 

The fact that the report cannot show the way in which the armament arrived in Libya, implies that it cannot be said that the sanctions that were still in force on Iran at that time were not respected. It is important to remember that there has also been an arms embargo on Libya since 2011, something that has been ostensibly breached in recent years, with countries like Turkey sending not only military material but also combatants.

Reports of this kind are submitted every six months, as the United Nations Secretary-General has to answer twice a year to the Security Council on the development of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran. An agreement which Tehran has indicated on several occasions this year that it is going to fail to comply with, given the attacks it has suffered, including the death of Qassem Soleimani and the father of Iran's nuclear programme, Mohsen Fajrizadeh.
 

According to Israel, the photos were circulated on social networks in November last year and belonged to armed groups linked to the National Accord Government (GNA). This is not the first time that photos and videos that have appeared on social networks have shown this type of interference in certain conflicts. This public exhibition has confirmed the presence of Syrian mercenaries sent by Turkey, as well as the presence of material of Turkish origin in the Libyan conflict. 

In February of this year, the US Navy, in particular the USS Normandy, intercepted a ship in the Gulf carrying military material. Among the weapons, they seized precisely 150 Dehlavieh missiles, such as those seen in Libya. In this case the destination of this material would be, according to Washington, the Hutu rebels of Yemen, who are supported militarily by Iran. This anti-tank missile would have similar characteristics to the Russian Kornet missile and was tested for the first time by Iran during military manoeuvres in 2015.