The Arctic Sea Russian denials concerning illicit arms to Iran met with skepticism

During a Tuesday briefing, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei LavrovForeign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed Russian and British media reports claiming that the Arctic Sea was carrying a secret armaments cargo. They reference military contacts in Russia and Israel as their source for the claims. Mr. Lavrov called the reports, "absolutely not true."

In spite of official denials, European and Russian news agents continue to report that the Arctic Sea was loaded with S-300 (SA-20 to NATO Nations) Anti-Aircraft Missile Systems (AAM/AMM) at the Naval Port of Kaliningrad. They further allege that the illegal shipment was detected and intercepted by Israeli Forces, possibly the MOSSAD, with U.S. and other NATO nations being aware of it. The Russian government denies this and insists that the Arctic Sea was loaded only with lumber and was headed to Algeria from Finland. Few, including Western governments, accept Russia’s explanation as it is hard for them to believe that pirates would risk so much for a cargo they couldn’t possible unload easily or for a profit.

Part of the Russian account states that the ship was boarded by eight pirates who took control of the ship and kidnapped the crew members. But, a spokesman for Russian President Dimitry Medvedev stated that, "eight Estonian CREW MEMBERS were arrested." Analysts say that the Russian government has slipped and indicated that the ship wasn’t boarded at all but that the crew members may have been assistants in securing the ship with/for MOSSAD or some other country. Another statement denies any "mystery cargo," but is quickly contradicted by the President’s office with a statement that the question regarding the mystery cargo will be answered when the ship arrives at the Black Sea Port of Novorossiisk.

With one side of the Russian government saying yes and the other saying no it is easy to see why so many would be led to believe that Russia was hiding an attempt to ship illegal arms. Skeptics of the official story state that the ship was loaded with S-300 systems and that the ship was actually headed for Iran instead of Algeria. The S-300, known as the SA-20 by NATO forces, is the latest in air defense technology for Russia. The missiles have a range of ninety miles and fly at 1.4 miles per second. This system is able to shoot down both air planes and radar elusive cruise missiles.

The possible sale of these systems to the Iranian government has been a serious diplomatic stressor between the Russian Federation and the Israeli government. The Israeli government has been pressing Russia not to sell the system to the Iranians claiming the Iranians will use them to defend nuclear production sites. Since the Arctic Sea incident, Iran has very recently announced that they have a system that can track and shoot down cruise missiles. This announcement has certainly drawn the attention of the international community and seems to support another theory that focuses on an at-sea cargo transfer to an Iranian vessel instead of a MOSSAD assault.

Regardless, the Russian government continues to insist that nothing other than lumber was on the vessel (but the mystery cargo will be revealed when the ship arrives at a Black Sea port) that left Finland bound for Algeria. They continue to insist that eight pirates boarded the ship and that eight CREW MEMBERS (not pirates) have been arrested. To many on-lookers, novice and professional, it appears that the Russian government was indeed trying to get something illegal and sensitive to the Iranians and are now panicking because they were caught.

American missile and nuclear armaments experts have suggested that the "lumber" visible from the air and sides of the ship may actually be camouflaging meant to look like stacked lumber but containing items that the Russians wanted to secretly deliver to Iran. According to these experts, camo-crates like those that would appear as long and high stacks of lumber could contain SA-20 SAM systems. But, they could also contain high precision machinery used in the processing of uranium or even spent fuel rods needed by Iran to make Plutonium. The possibilities of what the wood really is are almost endless but none are good news for the Western Nations, Israel, or peace in general.