Iranian, anti-Israel arms trade

A quiet, non-dramatic, non-hysterical, non-ideological account of Israel's incessant need for vigilance, and incessant military efforts in the region

Amplify’d from www.jpost.com

After contacting the captain of the ship by radio, the commandos climbed aboard and, encountering no resistance, began a brief search of the cargo. They went to the “suspicious” containers, the ones that were loaded at the Syrian port of Latakia and were slated to be unloaded at the Egyptian port of Alexandria, according to the cargo manifest.

The commandos found the containers fitted with heavy locks, unusual for shipments of lentils and cotton. Behind a row of sacks, they found what they were looking for: crates of mortar shells, and then the real prize – the C-704 anti-ship missiles. The seizure of the Victoria was not impressive for the quantity of arms found – the Francop cargo ship captured by Israel in late 2009 was carrying 10 times more weaponry – but for the quality. The C-704 is an anti-ship missile made in China and used by Iran, which calls it the Nasr. Like surface-to-air missiles, the C-704 is the type of weapon that Israel fears could shift the balance of power in the region and undermine its operational freedom.

But while the discovery is impressive and was the result of major intelligence and operational efforts, it is just another chapter in the larger covert war that Israel is waging against Iran and its terror proxies throughout the Middle East, and joins a long list of similar special operations that have taken place in recent years. The battle against Iranian arms shipments to Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas is extremely complicated and involves unprecedented coordination between Israel and its allies, primarily the United States. Read more at www.jpost.com

 

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