Washington — Western intelligence sources have reportedly uncovered unexpected routes that Iran uses to smuggle weapons into Lebanon and avoid detection, according to a Fox News report.

The sources identified two unusual routes to Beirut’s international airport taken by an Iranian civil aviation company, Qeshm Fars Air, in the past two months, according to Fox News.

One of the routes passed over northern Lebanon after a layover in Damascus, the other was direct but took a rare and unusual path.

The source, which remained anonymous, told Fox News: “The Iranians are trying to come up with new ways and routes to smuggle weapons from Iran to its allies, testing and defying the West’s abilities to track them down.”

The US and other Western intelligence agencies, have previously supplied evidence that Iran has operated weapons factories in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. — Agencies