LOC11:22
08:22 GMT
GAZA, May 30 (KUNA) -- The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's
office denied the claim by the Ofer Brothers Group that its ships had been
authorized by Israeli security sources to anchor in Iranian ports.
Netanyahu's office said this claim "is not correct", Israeli daily Yediot
Ahronot reported on its website on Monday.
According to the border-control registers of Equasis, a major shipping
information database, at least 13 ships belonging to Tanker Pacific, an Ofer
subsidiary, have anchored in Iran over the past decade, the daily added.
The ports where the ship anchored include Bandar Abbas, in southern Iran,
and Kharg Island, exporting petroleum from Iran.
The ships anchored in those ports starting in 2002, even though Iran is
defined as an enemy state and any contact with it, including commercial
dealings, is forbidden.
The Israeli ministry of defense announced that it will not deal with this
case, saying that it is a specialty of the Foreign Ministry.
On the other hand, Iranian deputy minister of commerce denied that his
country imports fruit from Israel, saying that his country bans any commercial
deals with Israel since 1979.
The Ofer Brothers Group owns and operates Israel's largest privately-owned
shipping enterprise, and has been active in shipping for almost fifty years.
The Group's fleet consists of more than 30 vessels, all ISO 9002-certified.
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