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Africa North

No arms found in Syria-bound Iran cargo

2013-04-01

Suez Canal Authority said early on Monday that inspectors did not find arms in a Tanzanian-flagged ship carrying an Iranian cargo destined for Syria. The authority had intercepted the ship as it crossed the canal following reports that the Tanzanian flag carrier had left an Iranian port on Saturday transporting weapons for the Syrian regime.

Suez Canal Authority Chairman Mohab Mamish was quoted by Turkey's Anadolu news agency as saying that the ship was carrying 7,479 tons of Urea chemical and was allowed passage to the Mediterranean Sea.

Urea is a useful basic chemical. You can use it to make fertilizer. Or explosives...

Syrian opposition military sources had said the ship was carrying 8,500 tons of weapons and ground missiles from Iran to be given to the Syrian regime.

"It is scheduled to make a 'fuel stop' at a Syrian port where it will unload its cargo," one opposition source told Al Arabiya on Saturday.

So were the inspectors blind? Or gagged?

There have been various media reports that the Islamic republic has been militarily helping the regime of Bashar al-Assad, which-according to the U.N.-has killed more than 70,000 people in the two years since the uprising began.

Posted by:Steve White

#4 That's a heap 'O knowledge there MR.

Posted by: Shipman 2013-04-01 16:28

#3 Double 'in in'.

Sorry

Posted by: Mullah Richard 2013-04-01 11:53

#2 BTW urea nitrate was the explosive used in the 1993 WTC bombing.

It's also a main ingredient in in hair removers such as Nair and Veet.

Not sayin' the Syrians are hairy or anything...

Posted by: Mullah Richard 2013-04-01 11:52

#1 Well the switcheroo on the weapons has already happened, somewhere further south in the Red Sea as the Iranians maybe crazy but certainly are not dummies and anticipated the inspection.

Also, urea is a basic component of many field expedient explosives. Mix a little urea with nitric acid and you have a nifty high explosive, urea nitrate with an explosive burn rate over 10,000 fps. Anything over 8,000 fps packs a nice wallop.

So the urea while it is excellent fertilizer, is a precursor to a pretty effective explosive.

BTW urea nitrate was the explosive used in the 1993 WTC bombing.

Posted by: Bill Clinton 2013-04-01 09:53

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