The UAE has seized a cargo of North Korean arms being shipped to Iran, which would have violated a UN embargo, Western diplomats said. According to Reuters, the weapons seized on August 14 included rocket launchers, detonators, munitions and ammunition for rocket-propelled grenades, they said. The ship, called the ANL-Australia, was Australian-owned and flying a Bahamas flag.
Diplomats said the UAE reported the incident to the Security Council sanctions committee on North Korea. The committee forwarded letters to Tehran and Pyongyang on August 25 notifying them on the development and asking for a response within 15 days.
The diplomats conveyed the Australian firm whose ship was seized is controlled by a French conglomerate and the actual export was arranged by the Shanghai office of an Italian company.
Diplomats said both North Korea and Iran appeared to be in breach of Security Council resolution 1874, which banned all arms exports from North Korea and authorized states to search suspicious ships and seize and destroy banned items.
