AJC: Ship Seizure Proves Iran is Fanning Flames of War

NEW YORK, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC warned that today's seizure by the Israeli Navy of a ship ferrying 500 tons of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah, the Lebanese terrorist organization, is an unmistakable sign that the Tehran regime is fanning the flames of war and conflict in the Middle East.

"We applaud the Israeli Navy for taking this decisive action," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "The deadly cargo the ship was carrying would have enabled Hezbollah to broaden its murderous assault against Israel - a country which these terrorists, just like their Iranian paymasters, seek to wipe off the map."

The haul of weapons was ten times larger than that intercepted on the "Karine 'A'" ship in January 2002, when Iran sent weapons and ordnance to the Palestinian Authority under Yasser Arafat.

"In shipping these weapons, Iran has engaged in a major violation of UN Security Council Resolutions 1701 and 1747, which expressly forbid Iran from exporting or trading any form of weapons," Harris said. "Such flagrant violations have become routine for Iran's leaders, whether they are providing support to terrorist organizations or covertly developing their nuclear program."

Harris urged the international community to impose a new round of tough, robust sanctions against Iran. "Thirty years to the day that Ayatollah Khomeini's enforcers seized the US Embassy in Iran, little has changed: the regime continues to repress its own people and threaten its neighbors," Harris said.