Arms on Klos C
Arms on Klos CIDF Spokesman

The United States and Britain on Thursday called for a UN investigation of Israel's interception of an Iranian shipment of rockets headed for Gaza, according to The Associated Press (AP).

UN officials have said that if Israel's claims are true, Iran would be in violation of Security Council sanctions.

U.S. deputy ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo urged the Security Council committee that monitors sanctions against Iran to investigate the incident.

She said "the committee should be prepared to impose real consequences, such as possible sanctions designations on those responsible," reported AP.

British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant called for a similar investigation, saying Israel's claim is "deeply worrying."

"This is not the first time that we have seen reports of potential arms transfers to Gaza involving Iran," Lyall Grant noted.

The envoys spoke after a council briefing on the sanctions committee's latest report.

The IDF conducted the raid of the ship, the Klos C, in the Red Sea two weeks ago, between the waters of Sudan and Eritrea. The ship, which flew a Panamanian flag, carried weapons which were made in Syria under Iran’s directives and were being taken to Sudan. From there, they would be then taken to the Sinai Peninsula and smuggled to Gaza through the underground tunnels.

Both Iran and Hamas have denied any connection to the Klos C. Israel's Foreign Ministry has stated that it would file a complaint to the UN Security Council over the shipment. 

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, denied that his country was behind the ship and also claimed that Israel had purposely revealed the capture of the ship the same week that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was in Washington for the AIPAC conference.