Report: Turkey foils Iranian arms shipment to Syria

Diplomatic sources tell German newspaper weapons were meant for Hezbollah

AFP פורסם: 04.08.11, 07:38

Turkish authorities seized an Iranian arms shipment meant for Syria, a German newspaper reported Thursday.

The Munich-based Süddeutsche Zeitung quoted diplomatic sources as saying the weapons were meant for Hezbollah.

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According to the newspaper, Turkish security forces stopped a convoy of trucks carrying a large quantity of weapons and ammunition in the south-central city of Kilis, which is adjacent to the Syrian border.

Ankara refused to either confirm or deny the report, which did not detail when the arms were intercepted.

This was not the first time Turkey has been able to foil an Iranian arms shipment to Syria: In March Ankara informed the UN Security Council that it had seized an Iranian cargo plane headed to Syria with a cache of weapons in its belly.

The shipment, which was in clear violation of a UN arms embargo, included some 1,800 mortar shells, 60 AK-47 assault rifles and 14 machine guns.

The plane was stopped several days after the IDF intercepted the "Victoria" – an Iranian arms vessel bound for Syria.

Reuters contributed to this report