IRAN SENDING MORE WEAPONS, TROOPS TO HEZBOLLAH

Iran Steps Up Arms Shipments to Hizballah Via Syria - Peter Spiegel and Sebastian Rotella
Iran has stepped up arms shipments to Hizballah through Camp Zabadani, a longtime base that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard maintains in Syria near the Lebanese border, an Israeli intelligence official said. "The order to increase assistance" came "directly from Tehran with the approval of the bureau of the leader Khamenei," the official said. "The assistance mainly includes a large amount of weapons as well as ammunition, cash, and field rations," he said. Iranian assistance could extend Hizballah's ability to sustain the current fighting. During the last three days, Israel has detected several shipments of weapons and supplies from Iran to the Revolutionary Guard base as well as to nearby warehouses, where arms have been stockpiled in recent years, Israeli officials said. An Israeli air raid Tuesday destroyed an arms-laden convoy of trucks that had originated at Camp Zabadani, the Israeli intelligence official said. Shipments from Iran to Lebanon via Syria in the last few days included FL-10 naval missiles, Katyusha short-range artillery rockets, and Iranian-made Fajr 3 and Fajr 5 missiles. (Los Angeles Times)

Hundreds of Iranian Troops Fighting in Lebanon - Ira Stoll (New York Sun)
Hundreds of Iranian Revolutionary Guard personnel are on the ground in Lebanon fighting Israel, security sources say. "I have no doubt whatsoever that they are there and operating some of the equipment," an Arab diplomatic source said Tuesday. Another foreign source, based in Washington, said the Revolutionary Guard contingent in Lebanon is based in Beirut and in the Bekaa Valley. He said the troops usually number a few dozen, but that the size of the force increased in connection with the recent hostilities. The sources said the Iranians had directly operated a radar-guided C–802 missile that Iran acquired from China and that hit an Israeli navy missile boat off the coast of Lebanon on Friday, killing four sailors. The Revolutionary Guard's mission includes keeping custody of Zalzal medium-range missiles and unmanned drones.