Iran Denies Involvement In Weapons Cache Earmarked For Hezbollah

November 4, 2009 3:00 p.m. EST

Tehran, Iran (AHN) - Iran is denying claims it tried to ship weapons to the Hezbollah group in Lebanon as claimed by Israeli governmental officials. The highly publicized claims were denounced just as quickly by Iran's Foreign Minister.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying "the report was not true. The ship was heading for Iran from Syria carrying Syrian goods, not weapons."

Israeli commandos boarded the ship 100 miles off the coast and near Cyprus and took it to the Israeli port of Ashdod in the southern region of the country. Upon inspection 54 metric tons of weapons were on board. The arms included missiles, anti-tank weapons and mortars. Top military officials believed the weapons were from Iran and their final destination would be in the arms of the Islamic guerrilla group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

During the month long Lebanon War in 2006, Hezbollah fired more than 4,000 rockets across the border at Israel. However, since the conflict ended Israeli officials believe Hezbollah has been steadily increasing its own arsenal with Iran and Syria assisting them. If they are involved it would be a direct violation of a United Nations ceasefire resolution.