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Iran, Syria reject Israeli claims over arms cargo
Tehran has dismissed claims that a container intercepted by Israel was carrying 'hundreds of kilograms of Iranian-made arms' to Lebanon. In remarks that instantly became the focus of Western media outlets, Israeli military sources said they found a large cache of weapons when they stormed a Lebanon-bound ship on Tuesday. The sources added that the ship, which is currently being unloaded in Israel, was Iranian and the weaponry was destined for the Hezbollah resistance movement either in Lebanon or Syria. "We found dozens of containers, with hundreds of tons of arms bound for Hezbollah from Iran," Israel's deputy naval commander, Rani Ben Yehuda, told reporters on Wednesday. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, in a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem on Wednesday, dismissed the allegations out of hand. His remarks were backed by Muallem, who asserted that contrary to Israeli claims, "the ship was not carrying Iranian-made weaponry for Syria or Lebanon," but was in fact carrying Syrian-made items for consumption in Iran. "Unfortunately a number of pirates disrupt business activities and frequenting of the ships, these pirates sometimes act in the name of [Iranians]," said the Syrian Foreign Minister. Posted by: Fred 2009-11-05 |
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