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Hezbollah goggles investigated by Britain

Updated: 23/Aug/2006 16:29

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LONDON/JERUSALEM--- The British government has launched an investigation after it was claimed that night vision goggles discovered by Israeli soldiers in Hezbollah bunkers were made in the UK.

Concerns have been raised that the equipment was part of a shipment of goggles which was supplied to the Iranian police and then sent to Hezbollah.

The goggles were apparently given to the Iranians in 2003 for use in their fight against drug smuggling. They apparently bear a stamp saying “made in Britain”.

Seeking information

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are seeking more information about the equipment to ascertain whether indeed it is British and if so whether it is subject to export controls.

"We view the diversion of materials which have been authorised for export very seriously, but we have to be slightly cautious because not all night vision equipment requires an export licence."

Following the reports in British newspapers about the goggles, Conservative MP William Hague wrote to foreign secretary Margaret Beckett to ask for an investigation.

Hague wrote: “Given Iran’s well-known role in supplying Hizbullah with military support, what steps were taken at the time to prevent Iran’s diversion of such equipment to military purposes other than the drugs-combating role envisaged?"

Shadow defence minister Liam Fox said: “If Iran had diverted the night-vision goggles to Hezbollah, it will have consequences for any future military exports to Iran.

“It points the finger all the more strongly at Iranian involvement in destabilizing the Middle East,” he said.

Serious situation

A Foreign Office spokesman told The Jerusalem Post Britain initiated the investigation on Friday and had asked Israel to provide a description of the equipment to help ascertain where it came from.

A spokesman for the Department of Trade and Industry, which oversees the export licensing of military hardware, said it was taking the matter seriously.

If the goggles were indeed found to be British made it would be a serious embarrassment for the Blair government which has consistently branded Hezbollah a terrorist organization and gave its full support to Israel during the recent war. Hezbollah’s military wing is proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK.