Hundreds of tons of weaponry were intercepted by the Israeli Navy aboard a cargo ship on the Mediterranean, sailing 100 nautical miles west of Israel and bound for Syria. It was the largest arms seizure in Israel's history. The cache was hidden inside shipping containers belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) which departed from the Badar Abbas Port in Iran some ten days ago. The freight was then unloaded in the Egyptian port of Damietta and loaded onto the Francop, a chartered German freighter flying the flag of the tiny Caribbean country of Antigua and Barbuda.
According to reports, the arms shipment weighed over 500 tons and included thousands of missiles and shells of various types, including Russian-made Katyusha rockets, which have a range 30 kilometers. The armaments were disguised as humanitarian aid. Some of the other containers contained toilets, milk powder and piles of sacks – each weighing 25 kilograms – filled with polyethylene and made by the Amir Kabir National Petrochemical Company based in Tehran. The transfer of such a large amounts of weapons was "part of Iran's effort to create a balance of terror with Israel," said Rani Ben-Yehuda, deputy commander of the Israel Navy. "This is the third time this year that Iran has disregarded international law and United Nations Security Council resolutions that forbid it to transfer weaponry,” he was quoted by the ‘Jerusalem Post’ as saying. Ben-Yehuda called the shipment "very advanced weaponry."
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "Iran is sending these weapons to terror organizations to harm Israeli cities and kill its citizens. The time has come for the international community to exert real pressure on Iran to stop this criminal activity and to support Israel when it defends itself against these terrorists and their patrons. Whoever still needed decisive proof that Iran continues to send weapons to terrorist organizations, received it today in a very clear and unequivocal way."
Damascus denied that the ship was transporting Iranian arms to Syria. "This ship does not carry Iranian weapons to Syria and does not contain military material to manufacture weapons in Syria. This ship carries imported goods from Syria to Iran," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said, suggesting instead that the freighter was headed in the opposite direction of that claimed by Israel. Addressing a joint news conference with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki in Tehran, al-Moallem said: “Unfortunately, there are official pirates disrupting the movement of goods between Iran and Syria. I stress, the ship was not carrying Iranian arms bound for Syria, nor was it carrying material for manufacturing weapons in Syria. It was carrying [commercial] goods from Syria to Iran."
Hezbollah also vehemently denied accusations that the weapons were destined for its fighters. "Hezbollah staunchly denies any link to the weapons that the Zionist enemy has seized from the Francop ship," the group said in a brief statement.
Israeli President Shimon Peres said the whole world knew there was a huge gap between what Syria and Iran say and what they do. "The ship, probably hailing from Iran, was destined to reach Syria and Hezbollah. All sides involved deny it, but the world is aware of the gap between what Syria and Iran say and how they actually act," he declared.
Earlier this week, in a report to the United Nations Security Council, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the disarming of armed groups, including Hezbollah, in Lebanon had yet to be implemented, and that Lebanese authorities had failed to report a single incident of weapons smuggling in southern Lebanon. Ban said that the presence of armed groups represented a threat for Lebanon’s ability to enjoy complete sovereignty and control over its land.
