2 US warships escort Iranian ship carrying arms for Hamas out through Suez Canal
Hamas Ceasefire Violations Watch | 23.01.2009 19:39
Two US warships escort Iranian ship carrying arms for Hamas out through Suez Canal
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
January 23, 2009, 6:06 PM (GMT+02:00)
US Coast Guard boarding team
US Coast Guard boarding team
DEBKAfile's military sources report that a US Navy Coast Guard team this week boarded an Iranian arms ship flying a Cypriot flag in the Red Sea and found weapons in its hold.
This was the first time an America warship had ever intercepted an Iranian vessel in international water. The incident activated the Memo of Understanding the former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice signed with Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni a week ago on actions to halt the flow of Iranian arms to Hamas as part of the Gaza ceasefire.
The Iranian ship's captain showed the US boarding team documents recording the Syrian port of Latakia as its cargo's destination. DEBKAfile reports that both US and Israeli intelligence are certain the arms were bound for Hamas. But according to international law, the US Navy's Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, set up last week to combat piracy, was not authorized to confiscate the cargo or stop the ship because no enforcement mechanism was yet in place.
After a few hours, therefore, the US force released the Iranian vessel and two warships escorted it out of Red Sea waters. The ship and its escort are due to enter the Suez Canal heading north Saturday night, Jan. 23, after being prevented from unloading its arms freight on the coast of Sinai or Gaza.
Tehran has so far not reacted to the incident.
DEBKAfile revealed last week that the new US task force policing the waters of the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and Red Sea, under the command of Rear Adm. Terry McKnight, had been additionally assigned with intercepting Iranian ships smuggling arms for Hamas, often in conjunction with Somali pirates and Sinai Bedouin militias.
Massed on the lead ship San Antonio is a helicopter detachment, a "surgical team" for dealing with small speedboats trying to hem the ship in and 14 Navy VBSS members, including two Navy boarding officers. The Coast Guard detachment is made up of eight members, all of them qualified as boarding officers.
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
January 23, 2009, 6:06 PM (GMT+02:00)
US Coast Guard boarding team
US Coast Guard boarding team
DEBKAfile's military sources report that a US Navy Coast Guard team this week boarded an Iranian arms ship flying a Cypriot flag in the Red Sea and found weapons in its hold.
This was the first time an America warship had ever intercepted an Iranian vessel in international water. The incident activated the Memo of Understanding the former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice signed with Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni a week ago on actions to halt the flow of Iranian arms to Hamas as part of the Gaza ceasefire.
The Iranian ship's captain showed the US boarding team documents recording the Syrian port of Latakia as its cargo's destination. DEBKAfile reports that both US and Israeli intelligence are certain the arms were bound for Hamas. But according to international law, the US Navy's Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, set up last week to combat piracy, was not authorized to confiscate the cargo or stop the ship because no enforcement mechanism was yet in place.
After a few hours, therefore, the US force released the Iranian vessel and two warships escorted it out of Red Sea waters. The ship and its escort are due to enter the Suez Canal heading north Saturday night, Jan. 23, after being prevented from unloading its arms freight on the coast of Sinai or Gaza.
Tehran has so far not reacted to the incident.
DEBKAfile revealed last week that the new US task force policing the waters of the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and Red Sea, under the command of Rear Adm. Terry McKnight, had been additionally assigned with intercepting Iranian ships smuggling arms for Hamas, often in conjunction with Somali pirates and Sinai Bedouin militias.
Massed on the lead ship San Antonio is a helicopter detachment, a "surgical team" for dealing with small speedboats trying to hem the ship in and 14 Navy VBSS members, including two Navy boarding officers. The Coast Guard detachment is made up of eight members, all of them qualified as boarding officers.
Hamas Ceasefire Violations Watch
Additions
Expose all war-mongers!
23.01.2009 22:35
What a nasty piece of Mossad propaganda!!!
Fits in quite well with the compilation below:
1) Hamas announces week-long ceasefire in Gaza
2) Leaders pledge to end arms smuggling
3) Olmert: Hamas an offshoot of Iran
4) Text of U.S.-Israel agreement to end Gaza arms smuggling
5) Presentation of the wishes of the Diplomatic corps; Speech by the President of France Nicolas Sarkozy
—————————–
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5542830.ece excerpt from ‘Hamas announces week-long ceasefire in Gaza’
by Martin Fletcher and Azmi Keshawi, Times, 19 January 2009
[UK Prime Minister Mr Gordon] Brown said British naval vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden would help to intercept weapons from countries like Iran. “This fragile ceasefire has got to be followed immediately, if it is to be sustainable, by humanitarian access . . . by troop withdrawals, by an end to arms trafficking,” he said.
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http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1232275662182 excerpt from ‘Leaders pledge to end arms smuggling’
by Edgar Lefkovitz, Jerusalem Post, 18 January 2009
“Today it is clear to everyone that in order to achieve a stable cease-fire, Hamas must be prevented from building up its military capabilities through massive weapons smuggling from Iran and Syria to the Gaza Strip.” [Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, 18 January 2008]
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http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3657761,00.html excerpt from: ‘Olmert: Hamas an offshoot of Iran’
Ynetnews, 17 January 2009
Hamas “is an offshoot of Iran,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a press conference announcing a cabinet decision on a cessation of Israel’s operation in Gaza as of 2 a.m. Sunday morning.
“Iran, with its weapons smuggling, attempted to do with Hamas what it did with Hizbullah in Lebanon,” he added.
———————–
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1056175.html excerpt from ‘Text of U.S.-Israel agreement to end Gaza arms smuggling’
Haaretz, 17 January 2009
Enhancement of the existing international sanctions and enforcement mechanisms against provision of material support to Hamas and other terrorist organizations, including through an international response to those states, such as Iran, who are determined to be sources of weapons and explosives supply to Gaza.
——————–
http://diplomacymonitor.com/stu/dma1.nsf/tr/ttF7CF93E91225823785257540006CD6EF excerpt from: ‘Speech of Mr. President of the Republic [of France Nicolas Sarkozy]
Presentation of the wishes of the Diplomatic corps, Palais de l’Elysée’ (*)
16 January 2009
The year 2009 will be decisive for Iran … time from now on is counted. The IAEA underlines fast and alarming progress program of Iranian enrichment, of which each one knows that it does not have any civil purpose. The moment approaches where a choice will have to be made by the Iranian leaders: either they cause a serious confrontation with the international community; maybe, which France wishes, one has arrived, finally, with a solution by the entered into negotiation, hold you well, for 5 years.
(*) link to the transcript of the speech in French:
http://www.elysee.fr/download/?mode=press&filename=16_01_Voeux_Corps_diplomatique.pdf
dandelionsalad
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http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2009/01/19/olmert-massive-weapons-smuggling-from-iran-and-syria-to-hamas/
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