Material for manufacturing missiles and chemical weapons has been discovered by the Turkish authorities on Iranian trucks heading to Turkey, Turkish media reported on Friday.

The Turkish newspaper Taraf reported that Turkish authorities, who stopped the trucks two weeks ago at customs, had found material on board the trucks which could be used for manufacturing missiles and chemical weapons.

Open gallery view An IDF soldier carrying one of the 120mm mortar shells that were seized from the Victoria cargo ship last April. Credit: AP

Turkish customs officials intercepted the four trucks on suspecion of carrying military equipment from Iran to Syria earlier this month.

The governor of Kilis province in Turkey said the trucks were confiscated at the Oncupinar border crossing into Syria after police received information about their cargo, according to Dogan news agency.

One of the trucks was carrying six six-meter long cylinders, and the remaining three were carrying 66 tons of sodium sulphate, that could be used for manufacturing chemical missiles.

Turkey sent a team of experts to examine the content of the trucks, and UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, requested a report on the contents from the Turkish authorities, the newspaper said.

According to the cargo documents, the material belongs to an Iranian tannery company, but it is believed that this is a cover, and the cargo is intended for chemical weapons production.

This is not the first Iranian delivery of weapons material that the Turkish authorities intercepted by the Turkish authorities. In August and March of last year, the authorities found a delivery of light weapons on planes that had arrived from Iran, and in September Turkey stopped a ship delivering cargo from Iran to Syria, without reporting what was on board the ship.

In the past, Turkey has agreed to intercept deliveries of cargo from Iran on based on foreign intelligence sources, including from Israel.

