Hezbollah's Precision Guided Missile Project

On September 1, 2019, Hezbollah fired anti-tank missiles at Israel from Lebanon. The missiles hit an IDF military outpost and an ambulance in northern Israel. In response, the IDF fired at the source of attack in southern Lebanon. No Israelis were injured in the attack directed at Israel. 

The Rise of Israeli-Lebanese Tensions:

On August 24, 2019, the IDF foiled an Iranian Quds Force attack, administered by Iranian Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani, of multiple killer drones from Syria. Following the preventive strike, on August 25, 2019, the Commander of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, threatened to attack Israel from Lebanon.

EXPOSED: Hezbollah’s Iranian-led Precision Guided Missile Project

On Thursday, August 29, 2019, the IDF exposed the identities of three senior officers in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps involved in Hezbollah’s attempt to develop and acquire precision guided missiles in Lebanon. 

What is a precision guided missile? 

A precision guided missile is a projectile equipped with a highly advanced navigation system enabling it to strike its target within an accuracy of a few meters. 

Why does Hezbollah want to acquire these missiles (and why they cannot be allowed to): 

The terror group Hezbollah, led by Hassan Nasrallah, have continually threatened to fire rockets at Israel from Lebanon. Should Hezbollah acquire precision guided missiles, they would have the ability to directly target Israeli civilians, towns and cities, and even national strategic assets.

Iran and Hezbollah continue to attempt to draw Lebanon into conflict with Israel. Their attempts to build up arms from within urban population centers, hide their weapons in homes, and dig attack tunnels from towns in southern Lebanon into towns in northern Israel, threaten not only Israeli lives, but the lives of Lebanese civilians by weaponizing urban areas where Lebanese civilians live. 

How long have Hezbollah been attempting to acquire precision guided missiles?

• 2013 - 2015: Iran attempted to transport ready-to-use precision guided missiles from Iran, via Syria, to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Most of these efforts were prevented by attacks attributed to Israel. Consequently, Hezbollah failed to acquire ready-to-use precision guided missiles.

• 2016 - 2018: Iran and Hezbollah shifted their strategy from attempting to smuggle complete precision guided missiles to attempting to smuggle parts of precision guided missiles into Lebanese soil and assembling them in Lebanon. Missile components were transferred from Iran to Lebanon by land (via Syria), by air (using civilian flights to Rafiq Hariri International Airport in Beirut), and by sea (via the Port of Beirut). The Iranian and Hezbollah program to convert missiles failed to gather much traction. ‘

• 2019: Iran and Hezbollah reinforced efforts to produce precision guided missiles in Lebanon, with manufacturing and conversion facilities built in a number of locations in Lebanon.

Who are the leaders of Iran and Hezbollah’s precision missile project? 

Under the command of the Iranian Quds Force commander, Qassem Soleimani, three senior Iranian Quds Force operatives led the efforts to establish Hezbollah’s precision guided missiles program: 

Muhammad Hussein-Zada Hejazi

• Iranian Quds Force operative
• Commander of Iran’s precision guided missile project in Lebanon
• Directly commands Iranian personnel stationed in Lebanon

Majid Nuab

• Iranian Quds Force operative
• Technological manager of the precision weapons project in Lebanon
• An engineer who specializes in SSM “surface-to-surface missiles”
• Actively manages and oversees the precision guided missile project

Ali Asrar Nuruzi

• Iranian Quds Force operative
• Chief logistics officer
• Responsible for transferring precision weapon components from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon

The IDF's ground forces, air, navy and intelligence forces have improved their preparedness for various scenarios in northern Israel and our forces continue to stand ready to safeguard the lives of Israeli civilians.

For more information about Hezbollah, read more here.