Security Council told of two reported arms embargo violations by Iran

CNN: Iran continues to evade and violate a U.N.-imposed arms embargo, according to a sanctions committee report released Friday to the Security Council.

By Joe Vaccarello, CNN

United Nations (CNN) — Iran continues to evade and violate a U.N.-imposed arms embargo, according to a sanctions committee report released Friday to the Security Council.

Ambassador Tsuneo Nishida of Japan, who is the chairman of the committee, told the Security Council that within the past 90 days, the committee has been investigating two separate incidents of reported Iranian violations.

One violation, he said, involved a report by a member country that from one of its ports, it “inspected and seized 13 shipping containers of illegal arms reportedly originating from Iran.” The committee said it would issue a more comprehensive report of the results in the near future.

The other report of violations involved a separate member country whose customs and border authorities seized a container onboard a ship which originated from Iran and was destined for Syria. It contained “a high-potential explosive known as ‘T4’ or ‘RDX’. “

Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, reacted to the report saying, “Unfortunately, when it comes to Iran’s actions, not much has changed since we last met. Iran continues to violate its obligations” to the Security Council.

In 2007, Security Council Resolution 1747 imposed a ban on the export and procurement of all arms and related material from Iran.