Turkey informs UN of illegal Iran arms shipment

Turkey on Friday informed the United Nations Security Council that it seized an illegal weapons shipment from Iran that intended to reach Syria, the Sabah newspaper reported.

The Turkish government said that the weapons cache was being illegally exported to Syria in breach of a UN arms embargo. The illegal cargo was discovered on March 21 and may result in further financial sanctions against Iranian institutions.

Turkey delivered a report to the Security Council's Iran sanctions committee which oversees the compliance with the four rounds of sanctions imposed over the Islamic country by the 15-member body.

On March 21, an Iranian airplane was forced to land in the southern province of Diyarbakir. A subsequent search on the aircraft registered with the Iranian YAS Aviation resulted in the seizure of a weapons cache.

Inside the plane bound for Aleppo, Syria, authorities located 60 Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles, 14 BKC/Bixi machine guns, nearly 8,000 rounds of BKC/AK-47 ammunition, 560 60-mm mortar shells, and 1,288 120-mm mortar shells.

"The crew were detained and interrogated by the Diyarbakir officials," the report said. "They denied any knowledge about the prohibited items on board, as well as the identity of the individual or individuals responsible for the attempted illegal export."

The crew and the plane were released and allowed to return to their native country but the illegal cargo was not returned. The U.S. and Israel suspect Iran uses Syria as a for weapons transfers to militant groups in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has denied these allegations and has labeled the sanctions as biased and unfair. The UN-backed sanctions prohibit Iran from exporting weapons and engage in actions related to uranium enrichment.

In early March, Turkish fighter jets forced a plane to land at Diyarbakır airport after it was believed the aircraft was transporting weapons from Iran to Syria. However, no weapons or other illegal goods were found inside the aircraft and it was allowed to leave.

Source: BNO NEWS