Nigeria said to have evidence linking Iran to secret weapons shipment to the country

  Nigeria says two Iranians, Azimi Agajany and Sayed Akbar Tahmaesebi were behind the secret shipment of 13 containers of weapons, including 107mm artillery rockets, rifle rounds² and grenades,¹ to the country. The shipment was made by them through a Tehran-based company called International Trading and General Construction.²  The containers, deceptively labeled "packages of glass wool and pallets of stone", were loaded at Bandar Abbas in Iran by France based shipping company CMA CGM and arrived at Lagos in July.²

 The containers sat at the port until October 26 ² and were about to be shipped to Gambia¹ when it was seized by the Nigerian authorities, who said it had been monitored before arrival.² The authorities also said the cargo was intended for Nigeria and that "any argument that the cargo came into the country by mistake is false."¹ They believe the arms were ordered by some local politicians to be used if they lose in next year's election.²

 Iranian Ambassador Hussein Abdullahi had earlier said there was no clear link of Iranian involvement, but Nigerian authorities say Tahmaesebi's visa application to Nigeria was supported by the Iranian foreign ministry and that he worked at the Iranian embassy apparently to "provide administrative support".² Agajany's visa application was supported by the Nigerian Sheikh Ali Abbas Othman, aka Abbas Jega, who had studied in Iran and worked for Radio Tehran's Hausa language service.² Nigerian authorities believe the two Iranians may be hiding in the Iranian embassy in the Nigerian capital Abuja.²

 These revelations come only a fews days after Iranians demonstrated shouting “Death to America” outside the former US embassy in Tehran, which they now call “Den of Spies”.³

Sources: 1. AFP, 2. AP, 3. Los Angeles Times

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