A mysterious cargo underlines Iran/Venezuela axis

Turkey stopped a shipment bound for Venezuela from Iran, contending that it contained laboratory equipment capable of producing explosives, according to reports out of Ankara.

According to Turkish officials, the shipment was found at the Mediterranean port of Mersin and seized in December 2008. The lab equipment was found in 22 containers labeled “tractor parts” that were brought to the seaport via truck transport from neighboring Iran.

Bound for Venezuela, the shipment contained barrels labeled with “Danger” signs and bearing chemicals and equipment that can be used for developing explosives. Experts from the Turkish Atomic Institute did not find traces of radioactive materials. Military officials are left with the task of deciding whether to allow the shipment to make the transit to Venezuela.

Iran and Venezuela operate various joint ventures in both countries, including plants to assemble tractors and cars. The two countries also have agreed to team up on petrochemical projects, while President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran have now met several times. Chávez made his seventh visit to Tehran in November 2008.

The Iranian-Venezuelan duo inaugurated in 2008 a joint petrochemical complex south of Tehran, at Assaluyeh, some 808 miles south of Tehran, that will produce more than 1.6 million tons of methanol when finished. Iran has invested over $2 billion in fellow oil-producer Venezuela.

President Chávez shares with his Iranian counterpart a bellicose stance towards the U.S. and Israel. For example, Venezuela expelled Israel’s ambassador to Caracas at the onset of the “Cast Lead” invasion made by the Jewish state into the Gaza Strip. At Chávez’s most recent visit to Tehran, the leader of the so-called Bolivarian Revolution also said that he seeks “the end of the American Empire”. Chávez has also repeatedly expressed support for Iran’s uranium enrichment program. However, the Latin leader’s support for Iran has stopped short of endorsing President Ahmadinejad’s express desire to “wipe Israel off the map” and said in March 2007 that he wishes no harm to any country.