Hungary offered to help Iran after Hezbollah pager attack: report
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A new report says that Hungary’s government offered to share intelligence with Iran concerning ‘Israel’s’ September 2024 operation that caused thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah operatives to explode in Lebanon.
The disclosure, according to the Washington Post, based on a government transcript, has prompted concerns among Western officials regarding Budapest’s relations with Tehran despite its publicly stated support for ‘Israel’.
According to The Washington Post, the offer was conveyed on 30 September 2024—two weeks after the attacks—during a telephone call between Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó and his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi.
In the conversation, Szijjártó stated that Hungarian intelligence services had already contacted their Iranian counterparts and would provide “all the information we have gathered during the investigation” as well as “every possible document.”
The pager explosions occurred primarily on 17 September 2024, with additional incidents involving communication devices the following day.
The coordinated detonations killed at least 12 people, including civilians, and injured approximately 2,800 others across Lebanon and parts of Syria. Hezbollah and Lebanese authorities attributed the operation to ‘Israel’, which –as usual with its covert ops– has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.
A Budapest-based firm, BAC Consulting Kft., was initially identified as an intermediary in the supply chain of the affected pagers through a licensing arrangement with a Taiwanese manufacturer.
Hungarian authorities subsequently clarified that the company served solely as a trading intermediary, maintained no manufacturing facilities in the country, and that the devices had never entered Hungarian territory.
Hebrew media later reported that the firm functioned as part of a front operation linked to ‘Israeli’ intelligence.
Hungary’s actions are viewed as potentially inconsistent with its vocal support for ‘Israel’ in international forums.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government has cultivated close relations with Tel Aviv and Washington while simultaneously sustaining engagement with Russia and Iran, allies that frequently oppose ‘Israeli’ and Western policies in the Middle East.
