Iran Government B737 takes FM Zarif to Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrives at Islamabad - Benazir Bhutto International Airport (ISB / OPRN) on 13AUG15 at approximately 06:30 hrs local time.

Zarif's aircraft is Islamic Republic of Iran Government Boeing 737-286/Adv, reg. EP-AGA (cn 21317/483). For this current trip, EP-AGA has flown the foreign minister to Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan, with the next scheduled scheduled for India. Two weeks ago, this aircraft flew Zarif to Kuwait, Qatar and Iraq. [see HERE]

This aircraft recently underwent D-check by Iran Air at Tehran - Mehrabad International (THR / OIII). [For aircraft history, click HERE].

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrives on 13AUG15 at Islamabad - Benazir Bhutto International Airport

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif shakes hands with Artesh lieutenant colonel, likely a military attache to Pakistan.

EP-AGA seen arriving on 12AUG15 at Damascus International Airport (DAM / OSDI). Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is welcomed by Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on 12AUG15

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, on 12AUG15 in Beirut

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif with Gebran Bassil, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants of Lebanon, on 12AUG15 in Beirut.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif with Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Samir Moqbel, on 12AUG15 in Beirut.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif with Seyed Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General of Hezbollah, on 12AUG15 in Beirut

Photos: Islamic Republic News Agency, Hezbollah Media Department and Reuters

Zarif in Beirut

Carrying A ‘New Plan’ to End Syrian Conflict

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif arrived in Beirut today to discuss issues of mutual interest with the Lebanese prime minister and other senior officials, including a “new plan” on resolving the crisis in Syria, said Marzieh Afkham, Iran’s foreign ministry spokeswoman. IRNA, the Iranian official news agency, said that the plan will be discussed with the Syrian government in Damascus during Zarif’s visit on Wednesday. (IRNA/Reuters, 11 August)

The Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman also said the Syrian war has no military solution and the conflict should be resolved politically. But Iran has been actively involved militarily from the beginning of the civil war in Syria. The Quds Force and foreign Shia militias under its command, including the Lebanese Hezbollah and Iraqi and Afghan militant organizations, bear the brunt of the fighting in support of Assad, especially after the Syrian Army faced serious setbacks by the opposition in recent months.

Iran also has extended billions of dollars in line of credit to Syria for Iranian arms and oil shipments, none of which has been repaid, with Damascus facing severe financial difficulties. Iran also spends billions of dollars on Hezbollah and other foreign militias deployed to Syria and hundreds of Quds Force advisers and IRGC specialists, and on costs of military operations in a long and seemingly unending war, now in its fifth year.

Photo credit: Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif attends a news conference at the Government Palace in Beirut; 11 August 2015 (Reuters)

Lebanese defense minister in Tehran to discuss Iranian military aid, cooperation

Above: Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan shakes hands with LAF delegation, while Lebanese Defense Minister Samir Moqbel (background, far right) looks on.

According to AFP (via Al Arabiya), dated 18OCT14:

Lebanon's defense minister on Saturday started a three-day visit to Tehran for talks expected to culminate in him securing military equipment to bolster Beirut's fight against jihadists.

Samir Moqbel's visit comes two weeks after Iran vowed to supply Lebanon's army with much-needed equipment following its deadly clashes with fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and al-Qaeda affiliate, al-Nusra Front, on the Syrian border in August.

Moqbel will meet his Iranian counterpart Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan to discuss how to improve military cooperation and combat regional security challenges, Fars news agency reported

Meetings with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, parliament speaker Ali Larijani and Supreme National Security Council Secretary [Rear Admiral] Ali Shamkhani are also scheduled, according to Fars.

Iran's offer of military support -- made when Shamkhani visited Beirut last month -- followed aid packages for Lebanon's army from Tehran's regional rival Riyadh as well as from Washington.

COMMENTARY: According to a regional source, specified Iranian military aid includes the following:

- DShK type heavy machine guns with 12.7×108mm ammunition

- BGM-71 TOW type ATGMs

- Night-vision optics

- 60 mm and 120 mm mortars, ammunition

- T-55 and T-62 tank main armament ammunition

- 155 mm howitzer type ammunition

Iranian military aid to Lebanon would mirror its current assistance to Syria, Iraq, Iraqi-Kurdistan and possibly Yemen in the war against ISIL and al-Qaeda affiliates, reflecting an uncoordinated, competing coalition effort to that led by the United States.

 

Lebanese Defense Minister Samir Moqbel, to his left a brigadier general and colonel of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF)

Photos: Tasnim News Agency