Diyarbakır, Turkey – Turkey informed a UN Security Council panel it seized a cache of weapons Iran was exporting in violations of a UN arms embargo, Reuters reported on Thursday.
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The report to the council’s Iran sanctions committee, said a March 21 inspection turned up the weapons, which were listed as “auto spare parts” on the plane’s cargo manifest.
The plane was bound for Aleppo, Syria, and was given permission to pass through Turkish airspace provided it made a “technical stop” at Diyarbakir airport, the report said. During the stop Turkish officials searched the plane for weapons.
According to the report, the search of the Iranian “YasAir Cargo Airlines” Ilyushin-76 revealed a number of “prohibited military items.” Namely, 60 Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles, 14 BKC/Bixi machine guns, nearly 8,000 rounds of BKC/AK-47 ammunition, 560 60mm mortar shells, and 1,288 120mm mortar shells.
“The above-mentioned items were seized and have been stored in a military warehouse in Diyarbakir,” said the report, which was sent to the Iran sanctions committee on March 29.
It was not clear whether Syria was the intended final destination of the weapons in light of Iran’s training and arming of Hizbullah in south Lebanon.
The United States and Israel have said they suspect Iran uses Syria as a conduit for weapons transfers to militant groups in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Iran and Syria deny the charges.
The Turkish seizure was the latest in a string of reported Iranian violations of the sanctions imposed on Iran for refusing to halt a nuclear enrichment program, which many in the international community believe is dedicated to developing nuclear weapons.
Colombia’s UN Ambassador Nestor Osorio, who chairs the Iran sanctions committee, told the Security Council last week that “the increase in the number of reported sanctions violations is a matter of serious concern.”
Security Council diplomats said the report of the seizure from an Iranian cargo plane reflected positively on Turkey, which some U.S. and European officials say has taken a lax approach to implementing international sanctions against Iranian financial institutions. Diplomats said it was not clear whether Iran had stepped up its efforts to skirt the sanctions or countries have become more vigilant in enforcing them.
Why don’t we see some strong military reaction from Isreal.
The iranians are setting them selves up for a 3rd world war. We gotta stop them before its to late.
Sanctions sanctions who cares its all a joke!
Unfortunately, Israel will have to wait and not attack first. Iran, Hezbullah and Hamas and maybe Syria, will all attack at one time hoping to over run Israel and cause massive damage through unprecedented missile strikes into the Heartland including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Israel will have no choice but to use a small nuclear weapon on Damascus and on Teheran or Qum to show it is serious. These cities will be utterly destroyed. Israel will then launch a few neutron bombs over all Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and Iran. All communications, power plants, computers will be fried. Only then will there be a cessation of war. No one will back Israel, not even the US . A few hundred thousand lives later, the Middle East will be quiet.
if this what they are showing us , then what are they letting through
I don’t know. Something stinks here. If it was clear from the ouset that the plane will be stopped and inspected, why did the Uraniuns follow through with the shipment of the arms?
Is Iran helping Turkey endear itself to the nations of the world, with Turkey covertly commiting itself to the Iraninian cause? And/or does Turkey turn a blind eye to these arms shipments 9 out of 10 times, with the occasional ‘catch’ that would seem to convince the world that Turkey can be trusted and that she’s on the lookout?
Turkey is one of the few friends Iran has in the world, and I can’t see this ‘interception’ of theirs and the subsequent announcement as anything less than a mirage.
It wouldn’t suprise me if those weapons were heading to arm the syrian rebels so that iran can gain an even tighter grip on Syria
If this is all as it looks, then one good thing could come out of it. And that is that the relationship between Iran and Turkey could deteoriate.