Cargo ship seized by Israel not carrying weapons: Iranian FM

2009-11-04 17:29:05 GMT2009-11-05 01:29:05 (Beijing Time) Xinhua English

TEHRAN, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Wednesday that the cargo ship seized by Israel was not carrying weapons, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Mottaki made the remarks in a joint press conference with his visiting Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem on Wednesday.

Asked about the reports over the seizure of an Iranian cargo ship on the coasts of Israel, Muallem said, "Such a thing is not correct and the ship was moving from Syria to Iran and was not carrying any weapons nor the equipment to construct weapons."

A statement issued by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Wednesday said that a cargo ship carrying weapons and ammunition was intercepted by a special force of Israeli navy on Tuesday off the country's coast.

The statement said that after an initial inspection, the ship was found to be carrying a variety of weapons disguised as civilian cargo.

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