Dear Leader sends Ahmadinejad a care package. –˜N Korean arms for Iran” seized by UAE,” by Simon Kerr and Harvey Morris for the Financial Times, August 28 (thanks to all who sent this in):
The United Arab Emirates has seized a ship secretly carrying embargoed North Korean arms to Iran, say diplomats. […]
The UAE reported the seizure to the UN sanctions committee responsible for vetting the implementation of measures, including an arms embargo, imposed against North Korea under Security Council resolution 1874, according to diplomats in New York. The committee, chaired by Turkey, has made no formal announcement about the case.
A UN diplomat whose country is represented on the sanctions committee said the UAE reported the ship was carrying 10 containers of weapons and related items, including rocket-propelled grenades and ammunition. He said the consignment had been ordered by Iran’s TSS, a company said to be linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and previously subject to international bans on importing weapons-related items.
The vessel, identified by diplomats as the Bahamian-flagged ANL-Australia, has been allowed to leave the UAE after being seized some weeks ago. Diplomats said it was the UAE”s responsibility to dispose of the cargo of weapons found on board. The UN sanctions committee has written to the Iranian and North Korean governments pointing out that the shipment puts them in violation of UN resolution 1874. […]
The UAE is a hub for goods moving in and out of Iran. Western powers have pressed for greater co-operation from UAE authorities to track shipments and monitor Iranian finances. They have also closed some companies that have been involved in allegedly exporting dual-use materials that could be used for nuclear technology or explosive devices found in Afghanistan and Iraq.
While most focus is on dual-use technology, diplomats said the clampdown on public dissent after Iran’s contested elections had also raised concerns about supplies of arms to state-linked militias.
Odd statement of cause and effect. They certainly should have been concerned about the weapons reaching the Revolutionary Guards and Basijis, as well as Hamas and Hizballah, well before that.
The UAE, a US ally, is also worried about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Indeed. Even the IAEA is coming around on the idea of “military dimensions” to Iran’s nuclear program. But will it make anyone move more quickly to halt the program?