Israel Matzav

North Korean weapons shipment bound for Iran

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the North Korean weapons shipment that was intercepted in Thailand ten days ago was bound for Iran. An earlier report claimed that the shipment's destination was Sudan.

A flight plan for the IL-76, obtained by researchers in the U.S. and Belgium, shows that after Bangkok the plane was due to make refueling stops in Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates and Ukraine before unloading its cargo in Tehran. Iranian officials didn't respond to requests for comment.

The flight plan indicates that en route to Pyongyang the plane stopped at an air force base in Azerbaijan; the nature of that stop is unclear. Azerbaijani officials couldn't be reached for comment.

The apparent links among the military cargo, North Korea and Iran raise fresh questions about how nations try to evade international sanctions. The United Nations Security Council has banned the sale of small and heavy weapons from North Korea and all weapons sales from Iran.

The new information is presented in a joint draft report by analysts at TransArms, based in Chicago, and the International Peace Information Service, or IPIS, of Antwerp, Belgium. Both organizations conduct research on conflicts around the world, including how they are financed and supplied with weapons. A draft copy of the report was provided to The Wall Street Journal. The report hasn't been independently confirmed.

U.S. State Department spokesman Darby Holladay declined to comment on the seizure of the weapons and referred questions to the Thai government.

It remains unclear whether Iran intended to use the weapons itself. Western governments have accused Iran of supporting militants in Lebanon, the Palestinian territories and Iraq.

The article describes the great lengths to which the plane's operators went to conceal its ownership and cargo. The ultimate owner is a woman with a Russian-sounding name in the United Arab Emirates. She declined to comment.

What is clear here is that the whole idea of maintaining sanctions is a cat and mouse game in which you cannot maintain sanctions without everyone's cooperation. That's so unlikely to happen in Iran's case that the prospect of sanctions convincing Iran to change its behavior within the period of time that likely remains to a nuclear breakout is simply laughable.

What could go wrong?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:17 PM