Cyprus will not free Iranian arms shipment destined for Hamas

Saturday, Feb. 7, Cypriot divers armed with sensors and infrared gear began exploring the Cypriot-flagged Iranian arms ship docked at Limassol, on orders from the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee, debkafile‘s military sources report. A Cypriot source said the ship appears to be carrying banned weapon-related material from Iran prohibited under UN resolutions.
The Cypriot official said sending the shipment back is not an “available option.” This would be the first time an Iranian arms ship has been detained and its freight confiscated.
US and British marine experts have joined the search of Monchegorsk which was renamed Iran Hedayt. According to our sources, two initial Cypriot searches of the concealed parts of the ship at Limassol on Jan. 29 and Feb. 2 turned up different types of rockets believed destined for Hamas, whereupon Nicosia sent a written report to the sanctions committee asking for instructions.
Friday night, the sanctions committee met in special session in New York and concluded the consignment violated UN Security Council Resolution 1747 banning Iranian exports. UN secretary Ban Ki-moon conveyed the ruling to Cypriot president Demetris Christofias who ordered the Iranian ship and its freight taken apart.
Cypriot sources say they have gone through half the 60 containers and will be finished in another couple of days.
According to our sources, the US and British navies flew out from Italian and Spanish ports special detectors for conventional and unconventional munitions in concealed ship’s freight compartments which were developed after the 9/11 attacks on New York.

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