The Cypriot authorities intend to continue holding a ship carrying suspicious cargo for at least several more days, a European diplomat told Haaretz yesterday.
A search of the ship, which was sailing from Iran to the Syrian port of Latakia, found ammunition for T-72 tanks, used by the Syrian army, as well as various types of mortar shells, said a senior Israeli official. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni called her Cypriot counterpart, Markos Kyprianou, yesterday and asked him to act to impound the weapons found on the ship. She said allowing the delivery of the weapons would violate UN Security Council Resolution 1747, which bans Iran from selling arms due to sanctions imposed following its breach of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
The diplomat said that the decision concerning the ship will be taken after it becomes clear whether the cargo violates United Nations Security Council resolutions.
The United States has claimed that the ship is carrying weapons from Iran to Hamas or Hezbollah. In recent days, the U.S. has pressured Cypriot authorities to confiscate the ship's cargo, which has been anchored at Limassol's port since Thursday.
