Cyprus searches ship carrying banned Iranian arms destined for Hamas
DEBKAfile Special Report
January 30, 2009, 9:19 PM (GMT+02:00)
Cyprus president Demetris Christofias said Friday, Jan. 30, that a ship being searched off Limassol is carrying a cargo that contravenes UN resolutions.
He did not identify the cargo, but Cyprus state radio reported the vessel was Russian-owned and may have been traveling from Iran to Syria with weapons destined for Hamas.
On Jan. 28, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen confirmed the US Navy had intercepted a Cypriot-flagged ship in the Red Sea. But said it had no authority to seize the weapons aboard. DEBKAfile cites UN Security Council Resolution 1747 of March 24, 2007, which toughened sanctions against Iran to include a ban on the country's arms exports. This resolution would have provided the US Navy with the necessary authority.
As DEBKAfile reported on Jan. 23 and 25, the Cypriot-flagged Iranian freighter Nochegorsk which changed its name en route, was stopped by US Navy's Combined Tasks Force 151 in the Bab al-Mandeb Straits last week suspected of carrying smuggled arms for Hamas.
Despite the suspicion that a clandestine cargo of heavy weapons was concealed in a steel compartment in its hold, the US Navy allowed the vessel to continue its voyage through the Suez Canal to destination, which its captain said was Latakia, Syria.
The Iranian arms ship's presence in the Red Sea was first revealed by DEBKAfile on Jan. 20.
Iran
Subscribe To
Posts
Comments