Al-Arabiya television reported online that mystery remains over the 18.5 billion dollar fortune sent by truck from Iran to Lebanon, which was confiscated by Turkish customs, who then deposited the foreign currency and gold at the Turkish Central Bank.

The report added that the payload was discovered on October 7, 2008, but the news remained secret until now.

A source close to Iran was quoted by Al-Arabiya as saying that the fortune belongs to an Iranian merchant who wanted to invest it in Turkey, while an Iranian opposition source said the fortune was on its way to Hezbollah.

Al-Arabiya reported that the funds were originally meant to found a joint Lebanese-Iranian bank by the revolutionary guard in cooperation with Hezbollah in order to break the economic siege imposed on Iran. 

-NOW Lebanon