Inside Iran arms ship: 40 missiles, 400,000 bullets
A day after reaching Eilat port, special engineering and Navy forces unload weapons from Iranian arms vessel destined to reach Gaza militants.
The Iranian arms ship that was captured by the Israel Navy last week was unloaded in Eilat, and revealed 40 M-302 long-range missiles, as well as 181 22-milimeter mortar shells and 400,000 7.62 bullets.
The ship, currently docking in Eilat's port, was brought to Israeli territory after elite Navy unit Sheyetet raided it some 1,500 kilometers away from Israeli shores last Wednesday.
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit stated on Sunday that the stage of unloading of the arms ship has ended, and its content was examined: "We have completed Operation Full Disclosure to prevent advanced Iranian weapons from reaching terror organization in the Gaza Strip."
The army's official statement further noted that the arms found onboard the vessel were "advanced weaponry destined to risk the lives millions of Israeli citizens. The IDF will continue its task to prevent weapon smuggling across the Middle East, meant for the use of various terrorist organizations sponsored and funded by Iran."
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At the weekly cabinet meeting held Sunday morning, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the complex operation that was carried out last week: "(The operation) had two goals: Preventing the delivery of deadly weapons to terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, which would have directly endangered Israel's citizens, and exposing the true face of Iran, which was behind this weapons shipment.
"I call this to the attention of (EU foreign policy chief) Catherine Ashton, who is now visiting Tehran. I would like to ask her if she asked her Iranian hosts about this shipment of weapons for terrorist organizations, and if not, why not. Nobody has the right to ignore the true and murderous actions of the regime in Tehran."
Defense Minster Moshe Ya'alon, who took part in the annual State service commemorating the 533 fallen IDF soldiers whose burial place is unknown, said that the Gaza-bound Iranian arms ship's capture exposed the true intentions of the regime in Tehran.
According to Ya'alon, the Iranians continue to constantly train and arm terrorist organizations in the Middle East and the entire world. "This is a complex struggle against a cruel, sophisticated and elusive enemy."
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Upon the ship's arrival at the Eilat port, IDF elite combat engineers and Navy soldiers began scanning the ship's containers and extracting the dozens of long-ranged M-302 missiles destined for Gaza.
