Cyprus Searches Ship Amid Suspicion of Iranian Bid to Arm Hamas

Cyprus Searches Ship Amid Suspicion of Iranian Bid to Arm Hamas

Cyprus’s president said a ship being searched off the Mediterranean island is carrying a cargo that contravenes United Nations resolutions, amid reports that the vessel may have been taking Iranian arms to Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip.

“We are investigating what it is carrying and for this reason we have to handle things very responsibly and with a great deal of seriousness, without a lot of media noise,” the state- run Cyprus News Agency cited President Demetris Christofias as saying today. The vessel is anchored off the southern port of Limassol.

The Cypriot-flagged container ship was stopped by U.S. forces in the Red Sea last week with a suspected Iranian arms shipment, the Associated Press reported, without saying how it got the information. The vessel was allowed to continue its voyage because American forces had no authority to search it, AP said. The vessel arrived in Cypriot waters yesterday after a stop in Port Said, Egypt, the newswire added.

“We don’t want to create any greater problems, because it is a problem for us when we are obliged to receive a Cyprus- flagged ship carrying what it is carrying, which contravenes UN Security Council resolutions,” Christofias said.

Cyprus state radio reported the vessel was Russian-owned, Agence France-Presse said, adding that it may have been traveling from Iran to Syria with weapons destined for Hamas.