Iran has recalled its troops from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and virtually the entire force was flown to Teheran yesterday by Lebanese Airways. A rear guard of about 25 officers and soldiers remained behind to accompany the 500 tons of Iranian military equipment that will be repatriated by sea from Beirut Saturday.
The Iranians will be replaced by a Dutch contingent. Their equipment has already left Holland by sea and will be off-loaded at Haifa port shortly. A UN spokesman in Jerusalem confirmed that Israeli authorities have been briefed on five Iranian soldiers who deserted from UNIFIL and defected to the Palestinian terrorists.
Meanwhile, the last remaining members of the Iranian mission to Israel finished packing its documents and equipment last night and summoned porters to transfer the material to storage pending shipment to Iran. Police had to intervene when the porters scuffled with press photographers attempting to take pictures of the evacuation. The police allowed the photographers to do their job because no security matters were involved.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
