Israel Nabs Iran Arms Shipment
written by ICEJ
A special unit of Israeli naval commandoes boarded a cargo ship flying an Antiguan flag around 100 miles off the coast of Israel before dawn Wednesday and uncovered hundreds of tons of Iranian weapons bound for Syria.Israel has now released the ship it seized early on Wednesday, but not before unloading some 3,000 missiles and tons of other Iranian weapons it believes were bound for Hizbullah – enough to fuel a month-long war.
IDF personnel have unloading 40 containers packed with hundreds of tons of rockets, missiles, mortars, grenades and anti-tank weapons - the largest weapons cache it has ever seized. Meantime, it was determined that the crew of the Francop were not aware of their illicit cargo and thus were allowed to steam out of the Ashdod port today to complete their journey.
Among the details being released about the historic seizure – senior Israeli navy officers say Iran's Revolutionary Guard was behind the arms shipment, which was destined for the Syrian port of Latakia and eventually Hizbullah.The commandoes who carried out the operation continue to win high marks, given that they boarded the vessel at night amid heavy seas and gusty winds due to an early winter storm hitting the eastern Med. Still, they knew exactly what they were looking for thanks to detailed intelligence, likely provided by a US Navy search of the vessel last week.
The captured containers had "I.R. Iranian Shipping Lines Group" written in English on their side, which is the name of an Iranian state-owned company that has already been black-listed in a UN Security Council resolution for its role in transporting material for Tehran's renegade nuclear program.
Israel hopes to use such information in a renewed international diplomatic effort aimed at confronting Iran over its sponsorship of foreign terror militias like Hizbullah and Hamas, as well as its defiant quest for nuclear weapons.
"Iran continues to smuggle arms to terrorists under the guise of legitimate international commerce, turning the Mediterranean Sea into a platform for illegal action," the Foreign Ministry stated in a memo to Israeli missions abroad, adding that they should bring up these points in discussions of Iran at the United Nations and with the governments of nations which do business with Iran.
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