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What did Iran send?
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Cyprus: Iran ship's cargo breaches UN resolutions

Cypriot president: Vessel's cargo appears to violate Security Council resolutions

Cypriot authorities have detained a vessel from Iran and are investigating whether it was carrying an illegal cargo of weapons, diplomatic sources said on Friday.

 

Cypriot President Demetris Christofias confirmed the authorities had detained a ship. He said the cargo appeared to be "in contravention of Security Council resolutions," but declined to give further details.

 

"We are handling this situation in a responsible manner and I cannot make comments which could ... cause more problems," Christofias told reporters."We are investigating to see what it is carrying."

 

Diplomatic sources said the vessel had departed from Iran. One source said authorities were probing an apparent violation of United Nations resolution 1747, which prohibits the transfer of munitions and related materials from Iran.

 

Cypriot authorities declined to specify the location of the vessel, saying only it was in "Cypriot territorial waters".

 

On Wednesday, US military officials said personnel from the US Navy last week boarded the Cypriot-flagged "Monchegorsk," a cargo vessel travelling from Iran to Syria, and found a weapons shipment but for legal reasons did not confiscate the cargo.

 

The officials declined to say what kind of weapons were found or how many. They also would not be specific about where or when the incident occurred.

 


פרסום ראשון: 01.30.09, 20:54
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