Sunday, January 25, 2009
Iranian Arms Ship Intercepted En Route To Hamas
The US navy Task Force 151, probably acting on covert intel intercepted the Iranian freighter Nochegorsk flying a Cypriot flag in the Bab al-Mandeb Straits.The ship was en route to Gaza via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
They found various munitions including what appeared to be artillery shells on board - and US sailors using metal detectors found welded steel compartments packed with more cargo hidden near the bottom of the hull.
Even though this is a joint effort by the US and Israeli navies, The US Navy was very adamant that they would be the ones stopping the shiprather than the Israeli navy out of fear of an international incident just when the Obama administration is planning a new diplomatic engagement with Iran,but that's also led to an unforeseen problem.
In order to thoroughly search the Nochegorsk and unseal the compartments,they're going to need to tow it to a port and that's becoming a problem.
The Israeli port of Eilat was out because of the reasons already mentioned, so far our 'allies' in Egypt, Jordan and the Persian Gulf would rather not be involved, and the other nearby ports are either hostile or pirate controlled.
The last I heard, the Nochegorsk was moored at an Egyptian Red Sea port pending a decision on what to do with it.
The EU is reportedly pushing the Egyptians to take more of a proactive attitude towards cutting down on arms smuggling.
Good luck with that.The tunnels are already being rebuilt.
Monday, 26 January 2009
The rearming of Hamas has started already.
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