Iranian cargo ship searched at Libya port

TRIPOLI: An Iranian registered cargo ship was boarded and searched at Misrata port in western Libya, the Tripoli-based Government of Nation al Accord said.

The ‘Iranian flagged... Shahr E Kord’ is docked at the country’s main commercial port, the internationally recognised GNA’s interior ministry said in a statement on its Facebook page.

The ship “is on a sanctions list of the US”, the statement added.

According to the US Treasury Department Office for Foreign Assets Control, the Shahr E Kord was placed on a sanctions blacklist on Nov 5, 2018. Washington has imposed a series of sanctions against Tehran since unilaterally withdrawing from an international nuclear accord in May 2018.

The ship, containing 144 containers, was brought to Misrata port in order to ‘verify the cargo to ensure it conforms with documents’, the GNA’s interior ministry said. The ship left the port of Burgas in Bulgaria on April 20, bound for Misrata, according to the website marinetraffic.com.

Ahmad al- Mesmari, a spokesman for the self- styled Libyan National Army ( LNA) on April 23 spoke about the presence of an Iranian ship off Misrata. The LNA, led by strongman Khalifa Haftar, launched an offensive against Tripoli, the seat of the GNA, on April 4.

Mesmari has suggested that the ship was illegally carrying a cargo of arms and ammunition to the coastal city, which is held by militia opposed to the LNA. — AFP