Ship that sank in the Yangtze could have been carrying N. Korean WMD to Iran

An Iranian freighter that capsized in China’s Yangtze River last week showed just how deeply involved that Beijing is facilitating arms shipments to the Middle East, Israel’s Ma’ariv newspaper reported November Nothing about this apparent dangerous duplicity. Was brought up while Obama was bowing and scraping to the Chinese this past few days.

The Iranian ship Zoorik foundered in the Yangtze. It belonged to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and could carry 20,000 tons of cargo.

The Chinese navy rescued the 36 crew members from the stranded ship as it ran aground in bad weather.

Reports from China indicated that ship was carrying 200 tons of hydrochloric acid and other dangerous chemicals. The acid is used in a variety of military industries.

Iran recently test-fired a Sajil 2 two-stage surface-to-surface missile that runs on solid fuel, which is manufactured using hydrochloric acid.

According to the newspaper, the Zoorik was previously called Iran Tayfuri, and has a long record of smuggling weapons from North Korea to Iran.

Last year, the Iranian Shipping Lines changed the name to Zoorik after information about it and details of the North Korean subsidiary operating the line were added to directory of companies. That list is controlled by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The presence of the ship indicates that China is not enforcing sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council, which would require it to stop vessels sailing from North Korea through its territorial waters.

It was not announced whether the ship sailed across the Yellow Sea from North Korea or was berthed in China where it had loaded the war material shipped through China to the docks there.