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'Iran arms runners' held in Italy | 'Iran arms runners' held in Italy |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Nine people, including both Italians and Iranians, have been arrested or are being sought by Italian police on suspicion of trafficking arms to Iran. | |
Police have issued nine warrants. Some arrests have already been made but some suspects are still at large, they say. | |
Police said "some are believed to belong to the Iranian secret services". | |
The nine were not identified, but police said they were accused of exporting arms and armament systems, breaking a UN arms embargo on Iran. | |
More details of the operation were expected to be released at a news conference later. | More details of the operation were expected to be released at a news conference later. |
Italy is Iran's biggest trading partner in the European Union. | Italy is Iran's biggest trading partner in the European Union. |
But it has been among the countries leading calls for tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme. | But it has been among the countries leading calls for tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme. |
The West accuses Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies this, saying its only aim is to generate nuclear energy. | The West accuses Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies this, saying its only aim is to generate nuclear energy. |