The United Arab Emirates has seized a cargo of North Korean weapons being shipped to Iran, which would have violated a UN embargo on arms exports from the communist state, Western diplomats say.
Source: The Agencies
- The UAE reported the incident, which occurred two weeks ago, to the Security Council sanctions committee on North Korea, diplomats said on Friday.
- The committee sent letters to Tehran and Pyongyang on August 25 informing them of the seizure and demanding a response within 15 days.
- The weapons seized on August 14 included rocket launchers, detonators, munitions and ammunition for rocket-propelled grenades, it said.
- The ship, called the ANL-Australia, was Australian-owned and flying a Bahamas flag.
- The Australian firm whose ship was seized is controlled by a French conglomerate and the actual export was arranged by the Shanghai office of an Italian company.No name any of the firms involved.
- Both North Korea and Iran appeared to be in breach of Security Council resolution 1874, which banned all arms exports from North Korea and authorised states to search suspicious ships and seize and destroy banned items.
- The resolution was imposed after North Korea's second nuclear test in May. Balbina Hwang, a former state department adviser for Asia said that the seizure was significant because it was the first incident since the UN resolution within the Middle East region.
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