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Government says rockets, missiles and grenades were bound for Lebanon
Published on Thursday, Nov 05, 2009
Associated Press
JERUSALEM: Open crates from a cargo ship seized Wednesday by Israel revealed dark green missiles inside. Containers from the vessel bore writing in English that said ''I.R. Iranian Shipping Lines Group.''
Israel alleged that the shipment of hundreds of tons of rockets, missiles, mortars, grenades and anti-tank weapons — the largest it ever seized — was headed for Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.
Israel stopped the ship, named the Francop, off the coast of Cyprus and towed it to the port of Ashdod. It carried orange, red, white and blue containers piled three deep on its deck.
Rows of crates from the vessel were displayed on the dock, and inside were rockets, hand grenades, mortars and ammunition. At least 3,000 missiles were on board, Israel's military said.
The seizure spotlighted the dangerous tensions between Israel and Iran. Israel considers Iran a strategic threat because of its nuclear program and long-range missile development, dismissing Iranian denials that it is building nuclear weapons.
Among the weaponry displayed were Katyusha rockets. One of the long skinny missiles sat atop a pile of storage boxes the military had labeled in Hebrew ''rocket 122 mm.'' The 122 mm Katyusha was the main weapon used against Israel by Hezbollah in a monthlong war in 2006. During that war, about 1,200 people were killed in Lebanon, most of them civilians, and about 160 were killed in Israel.
Some of the weapons were hidden in the Francop's containers behind stacked bags of polyethylene labeled in English ''NPC National Petrochemical Company,'' and the flame logo used by both the company and the Iranian Petroleum Ministry.
Israel said the huge weapons shipment backed up its long-standing contention that Iran is supplying large quantities of arms to Hezbollah and Hamas.
Iran has never acknowledged giving weapons to Hezbollah. Proof of large-scale Iranian weapons shipments to its proxy forces on Israel's borders could reinforce the views of Israelis who favor their military making a pre-emptive strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.
The seizure came a day after Israeli officials said Hamas tested an Iranian rocket that can hit metropolitan Tel Aviv.
Associated Press
JERUSALEM: Open crates from a cargo ship seized Wednesday by Israel revealed dark green missiles inside. Containers from the vessel bore writing in English that said ''I.R. Iranian Shipping Lines Group.''
Israel alleged that the shipment of hundreds of tons of rockets, missiles, mortars, grenades and anti-tank weapons — the largest it ever seized — was headed for Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.
Israel stopped the ship, named the Francop, off the coast of Cyprus and towed it to the port of Ashdod. It carried orange, red, white and blue containers piled three deep on its deck.
Rows of crates from the vessel were displayed on the dock, and inside were rockets, hand grenades, mortars and ammunition. At least 3,000 missiles were on board, Israel's military said.
The seizure spotlighted the dangerous tensions between Israel and Iran. Israel considers Iran a strategic threat because of its nuclear program and long-range missile development, dismissing Iranian denials that it is building nuclear weapons.
Among the weaponry displayed were Katyusha rockets. One of the long skinny missiles sat atop a pile of storage boxes the military had labeled in Hebrew ''rocket 122 mm.'' The 122 mm Katyusha was the main weapon used against Israel by Hezbollah in a monthlong war in 2006. During that war, about 1,200 people were killed in Lebanon, most of them civilians, and about 160 were killed in Israel.
Some of the weapons were hidden in the Francop's containers behind stacked bags of polyethylene labeled in English ''NPC National Petrochemical Company,'' and the flame logo used by both the company and the Iranian Petroleum Ministry.
Israel said the huge weapons shipment backed up its long-standing contention that Iran is supplying large quantities of arms to Hezbollah and Hamas.
Iran has never acknowledged giving weapons to Hezbollah. Proof of large-scale Iranian weapons shipments to its proxy forces on Israel's borders could reinforce the views of Israelis who favor their military making a pre-emptive strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.
The seizure came a day after Israeli officials said Hamas tested an Iranian rocket that can hit metropolitan Tel Aviv.
Comments
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Akron, OH
Posted 10:12 AM, 11/05/2009
Does anyone else see an element of hypocrisy in this news report? This kind of action on the part of Israel is not new. They claim that it is self defense . . . . which it is. The hypocrisy is this: There is nothing wrong with Israel obtaining lots more than one little shipload of armament from the USA, but it'd way out of bounds for Hezbollah to get arms from Iran.
rmk/akron
