CRISISBOOM

globalsecuritynewswire

Malaysia on Friday revealed that two seized cargo containers filled with technology that could have been employed to build nuclear weapons were bound for Iran, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 17).

Under a 2010 law that prohibits the illicit import or export of WMD-related materials, local police moved two weeks ago to confiscate the two containers from a Malaysian-registered ship docked at Port Klang. National police chief Ismail Omar said the vessel was sailing from China to Tehran (see GSN, March 17).

Western governments fear that Iran’s nuclear development program is secretly geared toward producing nuclear weapons. Iran maintains its atomic efforts are entirely peaceful.

A Friday article in the Sun newspaper said the seized components were a stainless steel holding tank and two agitating mixer devices. Investigators determined the equipment fell under the list of controlled goods that require special government dispensation for shipment abroad. The article did not list any sources for the information (Associated Press/Yahoo!News, March 18).

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday the international community needs to make sure Iran understands it would be subject to “credible military action” should sanctions fail in stopping Tehran’s contested atomic activities, Reuters reported.

“They have enriched enough material now almost for three nuclear bombs,” Netanyahu said. “They still have to re-enrich it again but that is what they are doing.

“The only thing that will work is if Iran knew that if sanctions fail there will be a credible military option,” Netanyahu said, adding the military action should “knock out their nuclear facility.”

Jerusalem has been one of the most strident voices urging that a military option be kept on the table to deter further Iranian nuclear development.

“This is not just our problem. This is the problem of Europe, and the United States,” the prime minister said (JoAnne Allen, Reuters, March 17).