See? There is an Axis of Evil!

Posted By Daniel W. Drezner Saturday, August 29, 2009 - 12:53 PM Share

The Financial Times' Simeon Kerr and Harvey Morris report on one of those stories that the Bush administration would have killed for about, oh, seven years ago:

The United Arab Emirates has seized a ship secretly carrying embargoed North Korean arms to Iran, say diplomats.
The interception comes at a sensitive time. North Korea has invited the US for bilateral talks on nuclear issues and the UN Security Council’s western members are pressing for greater Iranian co-operation over its nuclear programme.
The UAE has reported the seizure of the vessel to the UN sanctions committee responsible for vetting the implementation of measures, including an arms embargo, imposed against North Korea under Security Council resolution 1874, according to diplomats in New York. The committee, chaired by Turkey, has made no formal announcement about the case.
Diplomats at the UN identified the vessel as the Bahamian-flagged ANL-Australia. The vessel was seized some weeks ago. The UN sanctions committee has written to the Iranian and North Korean governments pointing out that the shipment puts them in violation of UN resolution 1974.
The authorities seized “military components”, but the vessel has since departed, a person familiar with UAE thinking said. The seizure took place in the UAE, but not the shipping hub of Dubai, the person added.

So, in the past two years, North Korea has been linked to arms build-ups in Syria, Myanmar, and Iran.

Come to think of it, maybe it's not an Axis of Evil so much as North Korea desperately trying to export the one thing they make that has market value.

Reports like these are actually good news, I suspect. It suggests that the enhanced sanctions regime is making it tougher for North Korea to export its ilicit wares. Which means that the status quo favors the other members of the Six-Party Talks more than it favors Pyongyang.

Gosh, maybe there's something to this containment idea.

UPDATE: More info on the shipment itself here.

EXPLORE:INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, IRAN, NONPROLIFERATION, NORTH KOREA, SANCTIONS

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KTMFOE

2:58 PM ET

August 29, 2009

Bush and obama has some

Bush and obama has some similr habits
they both talks in front of mic for a long time
but only difference is that bush didnt made it hapen but obama made it happen and is on the way to make it happen.

WALKING WOUNDED

9:35 PM ET

August 29, 2009

Axis, hub and spoke

I note that Prof. DD doesn't engage in speculation on what was removed from the Iran-bound cargo. Missile, Air Defense or U-enrichment related tech, or all of the above?

How can you discuss Nkorean-Iranian arms deals without mentioning China, the one relationship that Pyongyang must listen too? And the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Our clever IRP ally has done so much damage in league with the NK's and China, particularly with regard to metasticising proliferation nuke tech into W. Central and E. Asia, Maylasia, Burma, Asia minor and Africa.

US worldwatchers need to recognize that non-proliferation is a minority view among the majority of states that haven't achieved neighborhood nuclear parity or superiority. Proliferation amounts to a core value and an economic foundation for IRP/Islamabad's military superstructure. China's great-power role in the IRP and N. Korean nuclear trading club is major, providing initial weapons designs, along with incremental missile delivery advancements. AQ Khan's network functioned as nuclear spies for China, W. Euro tech driving their enrichment costs down by a factor of 60.

Outside of the US press and public, no one is buying a general US commitment to non-proliferation. Nor should they. We were willing to set the ambitious Shah up with enrichment, in trade for oil and regional leverage. Why should we doubt that the Chinese are doing a similar deal with todays Ayatollah, bidding against the Russians?

There is a global nuclear arms race afoot that includes virtually every regional power and their rivals. Just peak behind the curtain, and don't swallow the US disinfo without sniffing.

OCHIENG100

8:32 AM ET

August 30, 2009

generalisation

The story lack facts and adequate information,
Kindly try and get to the intended point.

BRIANN

3:59 PM ET

August 31, 2009

North Korea

It is true that North Korea could only be trying to make money but the fact remains that they are aliening themselves with people who want nothing more than to kill anyone who does not agree with their faith. casino

WALKING WOUNDED

4:45 PM ET

August 31, 2009

'arms ship' rumint.

If true, the unattributed WSJ update (linked by my morning FP brief) indicates that the seizure is more in the nature of an 'economic/PR attack' on a DPRK - Iran conventional arms deal. That said, "conventional arms" purchased by Iran may include MANPAD close air defense missiles. Heat-seekers are vital for ground force protection or air assault defense, as well as the terror weapon of choice against civil aviation. Iran is a reseller in their own right.

Until Iran achieves neighborhood nuclear parity against Arabia, Israel and the US, air defense in depth is their obvious strategic defense priority. North Korea has expertise in that area.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125151138304468869.html?mod=loomia&loomia_si=t0:a16:g2:r1:c0.1122:b27414306

"The equipment included detonators and ammunition for rocket-propelled grenade launchers, according to a diplomat to the United Nations Security Council, but no nuclear-related material.

Their purchase by Iran would violate new U.N. sanctions imposed against North Korea in response to Pyongyang's test of a nuclear device in May. They would have been legal under earlier sanctions regimes"