Sunday, January 31, 2010

North Korean arms shipment seized in Thailand was bound for Iran

So says a confidential report the Thai government has sent to the UN, according to Reuters. Well, I guess if it's on the pages of Monster Island, it can't be that confidential now, can it?
The report to the Security Council's North Korea sanctions committee, seen by Reuters on Saturday, said the shipment included rockets, fuses, rocket launchers and rocket-propelled grenades.

The cargo plane departed from Pyongyang and was en route to Mehrabad airport in Tehran, the report said. The shipping firm was listed as Korea Mechanical Industry Co.

The movement of North Korean arms to Iran appears to have been an effort to violate U.N. sanctions against North Korea that was foiled by the Thai government, diplomats said. Although Iran is subject to separate U.N. sanctions because of its nuclear program, it is not forbidden to import arms.

Council diplomats said on condition of anonymity that the sanctions committee was expected to discuss the Thai report next month when it considers its latest quarterly report, due on Feb. 11.

The committee will probably send letters to Pyongyang and Tehran for details on the shipment, the Western diplomats added.
I can't wait to hear the denials from the theocrats in Tehran and Pyongyang.

UPDATE:
This story is now being carried by the New York Times.

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