Israeli naval commandos and warships have intercepted a ship "apparently" carrying weapons from Iran to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in a raid dozens of miles off its coast, officials said on Wednesday. "During the night a special marine force intercepted a ship that was supposed to be carrying cargo around 100 (nautical) miles from our shore," a military spokeswoman said.
Photographs of the ship being searched in Israel's Ashdod port identified the vessel as the "Francop," sailing under an Antigua flag. "We suspected it was carrying weapons and when we inspected it that turned out to be true," the spokeswoman said.
The military declined to say what kind of weapons were on board the 137-metre (450-foot) vessel or where the ship was heading, but President Shimon Peres said it appeared to be ferrying weapons from Iran to Lebanon. "The IDF successfully seized a boat that apparently came from Iran and was heading to Syria and Hezbollah," Peres said.