Steve-
I think this link pretty much puts it to rest-and you were right on
target.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6823300.ece
Susana
MyReply
Susana,
Thanks for sending me this link from the on-line London Times which seems to offer “the last word” on the mysterious missing freighter, the Arctic Sea. I was convinced this ship was involved with international intrigue from the beginning. The initial reports about the ship lacked the crucial information that it has stopped for a long time in Kaliningrad, a Russian political/military enclave in North Europe. Once that fact was reported, I realized that a connection to some kind of clandestine weapons shipment was the most likely explanation. An Israeli connection, as is alleged in the link you sent, seems very plausible as the Israelis have a critical interest in stopping high-tech weaponry reaching Iran.
I do suspect, however, that the Russian government authorized the weapons shipment to Iran, but later pretended that it had not done so. Because the Russians have sold Iran its nuclear reactor and sophisticated anti-aircraft missile batteries, it would not be hard to believe that the Russian weapons on board the Arctic Sea were authorized by the Kremlin itself, but the Israelis gave them a diplomatic “way out.” My most recent blog on this subject cited the fact that the Russians sent two large military air transports to haul heavy and important cargo from the Arctic Sea back to Russia. I think we all can be sure it wasn’t Finnish timber that was transported hurriedly back to Russia!
Steve
