Russian officials released a statement that the Arctic Sea, the weapons ship that was intercepted en route to Iran, was not carrying missiles for Iran as was reported.

Official reports state the vessel was transporting wood from Finland to Algeria. The vessel was boarded by Russian commando forces. Reports that followed connected the operation to Israel’s Mossad Intelligence Agency, seeking to prevent the smuggling of S-300 missiles into Iran.

The latest official Russian statement confirms the vessel was carrying wood and nothing more, discarding reports of a secret missile cargo.

In a related message, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev announced that he understands Israel’s concerns over the sale of the S-300, but added the system is defensive, not offensive, so in actuality, the sale should allay Israel’s fears.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)