Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Monday accused Turkey of cooperating with Iranian attempts to smuggle money to Hezbollah in a meeting with a bipartisan group of US senators.

During the meeting at the Foreign Ministry, in which seven senators and Deputy Middle East Special Envoy Morgan Ortagus were present, Sa’ar told the group that Iran has stepped up its efforts to finance Hezbollah, and that Turkey has been an active participant in the process.

“There is an intensified Iranian effort to smuggle money into Lebanon for Hezbollah to restore its power and status,” Sa’ar said, according to his office. “This effort is being carried out, among other channels, via Turkey and with its cooperation.”

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been vocal in denouncing Israel since the beginning of its war on Gaza last year and has consistently expressed support for Hamas, which like the Turkish leader’s AKP party has close ties to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood movement. His rhetoric has been more lukewarm, however, on the gains Israel has made against Hezbollah in the past year, including the killing of the Shiite terror group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in September 2024.

At the time,

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