A CARGO ship that vanished in the Channel was carrying arms to Iran and was being tracked by Mossad, the Israeli security service, according to sources in both Russia and Israel.
The Arctic Sea, officially carrying a cargo of timber worth £1.3m, disappeared en route from Finland to Algeria on July 24. It was recovered off west Africa on August 17 when eight alleged hijackers were arrested. The Kremlin has consistently denied that the vessel was carrying a secret cargo. It claims the ship was hijacked by criminals who demanded a £1m ransom.
The official version was challenged by sources in Tel Aviv and Moscow who claimed the ship had been loaded with S-300 missiles, Russia's most advanced anti-aircraft weapon, while undergoing repairs in the Russian port of Kaliningrad.
It would have been terribly embarrassing if it became known that yet another Russian client had its head handed to it by Israel just after yet another cutting edge Russian military system was installed.
Mossad, which closely monitors arms supplies to Iran, is said to have tipped off the Russian government that the shipment had been sold by former military officers linked to the underworld.
"Former military...linked to the underworld." What a lovely, face-saving statement.
The Kremlin then ordered a naval rescue mission which involved destroyers and submarines. Any evidence that the Kremlin had let advanced weaponry fall into the hands of criminals or be sold to Iran would be highly embarrassing, so military officials believe a "cover story" was concocted.
Sunshine is indeed the best disinfectant.
"The official version is ridiculous and was given to allow the Kremlin to save face," said a Russian military source. "I've spoken to people close to the investigation and they've pretty much confirmed Mossad's involvement. It's laughable to believe all this fuss was over a load of timber. I'm not alone in believing that it was carrying weapons to Iran."
The alleged hijackers, four Estonians, two Russians and two Latvians, will go on trial in Moscow. According to the Kremlin's account, they boarded the Arctic Sea in the Baltic by claiming their inflatable craft was in trouble and then took over the ship at gunpoint.
Sources in Moscow suggested Mossad may have played a part in the alleged hijacking by setting up a criminal gang, who were unlikely to have known anything about a secret cargo. "The best way for the Israelis to block the cargo from reaching Iran would have been to create a lot of noise around the ship," said a former army officer. "Once the news of the hijack broke, the game was up for the arms dealers. The Russians had to act. That's why I don't rule out Mossad being behind the hijacking. It stopped the shipment and gave the Kremlin a way out so that it can now claim it mounted a brilliant rescue mission."
According to Israeli military sources, Israel received intelligence that weapons bound for Iran were being loaded in Kaliningrad, a port notorious for gun runners. "A decision was then taken to inform the Kremlin," said the source. Had the S-300 missiles been delivered, Iran would have significantly strengthened its air defences. An Israeli air force source said that in the event of an attack on Iranian nuclear installations, such missiles could increase Israeli casualties by 50%.
Since the Arctic Sea was retaken, Russia has imposed a security blackout. The hijackers, the crew and two investigative teams were flown back to Moscow in three Il-76 air freight planes. For more than a week after being freed the crew were not allowed to talk to their families. The captain and three crew are still on board the ship, which has resumed its voyage to Algeria, but they have not been able to call home.
Resumed its voyage carrying the original cargo of missiles? I'm confused.
Last week Mikhail Voitenko, an outspoken piracy expert who disputed the Kremlin's original version of events, fled Russia, claiming he had received threats from an official angered by his statements.
Admiral Tarmo Kouts, former commander of Estonia's armed forces and the European Union's rapporteur on piracy, has infuriated Moscow by saying the only plausible explanation of the mystery is that the ship was transporting weapons. A spokesman for the Finnish owners denied that missiles could have been secretly loaded onto the ship.
Sources who suspect Mossad's involvement point to a visit to Moscow by Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, the day after the Arctic Sea was rescued. Peres held four hours of private talks with Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president. Although the Israeli foreign ministry would not be drawn on the Arctic Sea, it confirmed that the two leaders had discussed the sale of Russian weapons to countries hostile to Israel. According to Israeli officials, Peres received verbal guarantees from the Russians that they would not sell advanced weapons systems to Iran or Syria.
Guarantees worth exactly the value of the air playing over the tonsils of President Medvedev as he spoke. But perhaps I am overly cynical.
"Clearly the Israelis played a role in the whole Arctic Sea saga," said a Russian military source. "Peres used the incident as a bargaining chip over the issue of arms sales to Arab states, while Israel allowed the Kremlin a way out with its claims to have successfully foiled a piracy incident."
"I could have got away with it, if it weren't for those damned juices!"
[Iran Press TV Latest] Influential Iranian cleric and politician Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani says no one should get cold feet in restoring one's rights.
"It is a vital need of the Islamic Republic and establishment to find a way to strengthen national unity and establish peace in the country," said Ayatollah Rafsanjani, who heads both the Expediency Council and the Assembly of Experts, on Sunday.
Referring to Iran's post-election developments, he said, "In the recent events, the sides should act in a way which will guarantee national unity," adding that efforts to vindicate the rights of people should be emphasized, the semi-official Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) reported.
Rafsanjani made the remarks in a ceremony to commemorate Ayatollah Ali Qoddousi, the first Iranian prosecutor general, who was killed by the terrorist Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) in Tehran in 1981.
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Posted by: Fred ||
09/07/2009 00:00 ||
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Of course they did. Using science and piped meringue.
Iran said on Sunday it had developed weapons systems to intercept stealth cruise missiles, state-run Press TV reported.
Israel and the United States have not ruled out possible military action if diplomatic efforts fail to curb an Iranian nuclear program the West suspects could yield atomic weapons. Iran insists it seeks only to generate electrical power.
"The Iranian air force has managed to build tens of anti-aircraft batteries and missile systems in addition to sophisticated radar systems," said General Ahmad Miqani, an air defense commander, quoted by Iran's English-language satellite news network. "Today, the military is able to both detect stealth cruise missiles and destroy them," the television quoted Miqani as saying. He gave no further details.
That's because there aren't any, not even the ones he just gave.
Cruise missiles are designed to fly low to their targets, hugging the contours of the land to avoid radar.
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Posted by: Fred ||
09/07/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
What stealth cruise missiles?
Not they are not a good idea...
#3
Anuyway, IIRc the 1999 serbia bombing campaign, I would think that cruise missiles are actually quite vulnerable to standard AA fire; didn't the serbs down quite a few, as they knew the "bottlenecks" passages over which they had to flow? (Not to mention the french officer who was arrested for passing out classified flight infos to serbs; note that interestingly enuff, this one still is somewhat active, at least online, mostly as a - rightwing - conspiracy theorist/truther).
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A CARGO ship that vanished in the Channel was carrying arms to Iran and was being tracked by Mossad, the Israeli security service, according to sources in both Russia and Israel. 
