IDF eliminates head of currency exchange used by Iran to fund Hezbollah in ‘severe blow’ to proxy financing

Israel Defense Forces announced on Wednesday that it had eliminated Haytham Abdullah Bakri, the head of the "Al-Sadiq" Currency Exchange, on Tuesday.

Bakri, who oversaw the transfer of funds to Hezbollah for terrorist operations, was killed in a precision airstrike by the Israeli Air Force (IAF), based on intelligence provided by the IDF. The military reported that the strike occurred in southern Lebanon.

🔴 ELIMINATED: Haytham Abdullah Bakri, the head of the "Al-Sadiq" Currency Exchange who operated with Hezbollah to transfer funds for Hezbollah terrorist activities, was eliminated by the IDF in southern Lebanon.

The "Al-Sadiq" Currency Exchange serves as a funds storage and… pic.twitter.com/OzY8If810G

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 25, 2025

The "Al-Sadiq" Currency Exchange functions as a financial hub for Hezbollah, facilitating the storage and transfer of funds originating from the Iranian Quds Force, an elite branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

This past weekend, during strikes in Iran, the IAF eliminated Behnam Shahriyari, the commander of the Quds Force's Unit 190. The IDF said that Shahriyari “exclusively oversaw the mechanisms that enabled the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars annually” from the Quds Force to its proxies. 

🔴ELIMINATED: Behnam Shahriyari, commander of the Quds Force’s Weapons Transfer Unit in the IRGC, was eliminated in a precise IDF strike in western Iran.

Shahriyari was responsible for all weapons transfers from the Iranian regime to its proxies across the Middle East in order… pic.twitter.com/O9nEjuauuW

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 21, 2025

The military stated that the mechanisms overseen by Shahriyari included financial transfer routes from the Quds Force to Hezbollah, utilizing offset transactions between currency exchanges in Turkey, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates with counterparts in Lebanon.

Hezbollah reportedly uses these funds to support its military operations – including weapons procurement, manufacturing capabilities, and operative salaries – which are ultimately diverted to sustain and expand the group’s terrorist activities.

The reliance on currency exchanges became necessary due to sanctions and other restrictions imposed by the U.S. and Western nations, aimed at hindering the flow of such funding.

“These two eliminations constitute a severe blow to the Iranian financing routes to Hezbollah,” the IDF stated.