Brit hi-tech gear from Iran to Hez

New York Daily News

KIRYAT SHEMONA, Israel - High-tech equipment sent to aid Iran in its war on drugs apparently has ended up instead at the front in the Islamic republic's war on the West.

Furious Israeli intelligence chiefs have complained to Britain and the United States that sensitive night-vision equipment recovered from Hezbollah fighters during the war in Lebanon was exported by Britain to Iran.

Israeli officials believe the state-of-the-art equipment, found in Hezbollah command and control headquarters in southern Lebanon and used during the month-long Middle Eastern war, which claimed more than 2,000 lives, was part of a British-government-approved shipment of 250 pieces of gear sent to Iran in 2003 and intended to help Tehran track drug traffic on its borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The equipment, which needed special export-license approval from the British government, was passed to the Iranians through the UN Drug Control Program.

Israeli military intelligence confirmed that one of the pieces of equipment is a Thermovision 1000 LR tactical night-vision system manufactured by Agema, a company with branches in England and San Diego.

A spokesman for Agema in San Diego denied all knowledge of the system.

The equipment can spot people and vehicles moving in the dark up to several miles away and would have enabled Hezbollah to detect and record the movements of Israeli forces inside Israel, as well as the military advance into Lebanon.

Britain and Italy have both provided tracking and monitoring equipment over the past decade to try to stem the flow of heroin and opium into Western Europe from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office in London said last night, "The Israeli Defense Forces have confirmed to us they have found some night-vision equipment in south Lebanon that is apparently made in Britain. We're trying to get further details."

The spokesman added that the government tries to "pick its poison" carefully when dealing with Tehran.

"This is an area where we try not to let the nuclear issue prevent cooperation on countering narcotics," he said.

Israeli Army Lt. Col. Olivier Radowicz said the equipment's threat to soldiers was clear as day.

"The night-vision unit was used to observe the movement of troops," he said. "It's very close to the border, so it can see Israeli troops. You can also record what you are watching. Then it is connected to computers. You can obtain a perfect intelligence picture in real time about the situation."