UNITED NATIONS - (UPI) -- There is "grave concern" among U.N. member states that Iran is violating weapons sanctions, a Japanese envoy said.
Iran is under a series of sanctions meant to curb its alleged weapons ambitions. U.N. Security Council Resolution 1737 from 2006 banned trade with Iran in nuclear-related systems while Resolution 1747, imposed a year later, tightened restrictions on weapons.
Additional measures imposed since restrict or monitor cargo carrying suspicious items while the United States the European Union imposed their own set of sanctions targeting Iran's energy sector.
The United Nations' news service said "a member state" informed the Security Council that 13 shipping containers from Iran were seized that contain illegal arms. "Another member state" said it seized explosives from Iranian cargo bound for Syria.
Tsuneo Nishida, the Japanese envoy to the United Nations, told members of the Security Council that Iran's actions were lamentable.
"It is a matter of grave concern that the apparent pattern of sanctions violations involving prohibited arms transfers from Iran … is continuing," he said in a statement.
Iran is under increasing pressure over its controversial nuclear program, which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes despite Western complaints.
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