Nork arms for Iran found by UAE

Financial Times:

The United Arab Emirates has seized a ship secretly carrying embargoed North Korean arms to Iran, say diplomats.

News of the interception comes at a sensitive time. North Korea has invited the US for bilateral talks on nuclear issues and the UN Security Council’s western members are pressing for greater Iranian co-operation over its nuclear programme.

The UAE reported the seizure to the UN sanctions committee responsible for vetting the implementation of measures, including an arms embargo, imposed against North Korea under Security Council resolution 1874, according to diplomats in New York. The committee, chaired by Turkey, has made no formal announcement about the case.

A UN diplomat whose country is represented on the sanctions committee said the UAE reported the ship was carrying 10 containers of weapons and related items, including rocket-propelled grenades and ammunition. He said the consignment had been ordered by Iran’s TSS, a company said to be linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and previously subject to international bans on importing weapons-related items.

The vessel, identified by diplomats as the Bahamian-flagged ANL-Australia, has been allowed to leave the UAE after being seized some weeks ago. Diplomats said it was the UAE’s responsibility to dispose of the cargo of weapons found on board. The UN sanctions committee has written to the Iranian and North Korean governments pointing out that the shipment puts them in violation of UN resolution 1874.

...

This is another example of how neither of these countries is moved by UN sanctions. The threat of future sanctions has not effected their conduct at all. As for the Norks they are recidivist at getting caught as "sensitive times." They were caught building a nuke facility for Syria during their last attempt at diplomatic engagement with the US and the neighboring governments.

I raise the question again. Why would anyone consider their word any good on any agreement?

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