OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli commandos seized a ship Wednesday that defense officials said was carrying hundreds of tons of weapons from Iran bound for Lebanon’s Hizbullah – the largest arms shipment Israel has ever commandeered. The Israeli military said an Iranian document was found on board, showing that the arms shipment originated from Iran, although the paper was not shown to reporters. Rear Admiral Roni Ben-Yehuda, the deputy Israeli Navy commander, said that despite its size, the shipment of weapons was “a drop in the ocean” of arms being shipped to Hizbullah.

“It’s a cargo certificate that shows that it was from a port in Iran,” military spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich said. “All the cargo certificates are stamped at the ports of origin, and this one was stamped at an Iranian port.” The Israelis boarded the ship before dawn in the waters near Cyprus.

Israel has long accused Iran of arming its enemies.

Ben-Yehuda told a briefing that “hundreds of tons” of weapons were found on the ship, giving a much higher estimate than an earlier one of more than 60 tons.

Containers had Iranian shipping codes in English – “IRISL” on one side and “I.R. Iranian Shipping Lines Group” on the other. Some of the hundreds of crates lined up on the dock were open, revealing dark green missiles with English-language designations painted in black.

But hours after the seizure, Israel had not provided proof that the arms were meant for the Lebanese group.

Israeli military officials said the ship’s journey started in Iran, and it arrived a week ago in Beirut. The next stop was Damietta, Egypt, where the weapons were loaded, they said. Ben Yehuda said the ship was headed for Latakia, Syria.

In Tehran, Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem dismissed Israeli allegations the ship carried arms.

“Unfortunately, some official pirates in the seas, sometimes in the name of the navy, sometimes in the name of inspection, obstruct trade movement between Syria and Iran,” Moallem said a joint news conference with his Iranian counterpart.

“This ship does not carry Iranian weapons to Syria and does not contain military material to manufacture weapons in Syria. This ship carries imported goods from Syria to Iran,” he added.

His comments made in Arabic were carried by Hizbullah’s Al-Manar television station and other Lebanese local stations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki dismissed the allegations out of hand, the state-run English-language broadcaster Press TV reported on its website.

It was unclear why al-Moallem said the ship was headed in the opposite direction of that claimed by Israel. Syrian officials were not immediately available for comment in Damascus.

Iran and Syria are close allies and Hizbullah’s principal backers. Israel accuses Syria and Iran of supplying Hizbullah with weapons using air, sea and land routes.

An Egyptian government official said it was “illogical” to think that Egypt is shipping weapons to Hizbullah. The official, who declined to be identified, could not confirm or deny whether the ship entered Egyptian ports. But he said it was not possible to search every ship that enters Egypt’s ports.

Wednesday’s seizure was bigger than a similar haul in 2002, when Israeli military confiscated a vessel with 50 tons of missiles, mortars, rifles and ammunition headed for Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

The presence of Iranian proxies in the Mideast have combined with worries over Tehran’s nuclear program and arsenal of long-range missiles to make Iran the Jewish state’s most formidable foe.

Israel shares the West’s fears that Tehran is developing nuclear weapons, despite its assertions to the contrary.

Neutralizing the Iranian nuclear threat remains Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top priority and Israel has not ruled out a military strike against Tehran’s nuclear facilities.

Ben-Yehuda said weapons, including Katyusha rockets, were stashed on a commercial vessel operating under the guise of an aid ship, captained by a Pole and flying an Antiguan flag.

Based on intelligence reports, a naval unit patrolling the area intercepted and boarded the vessel without incident, defense officials said.

Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said the crew was not aware of the cargo’s contents. The ship, the Francop, is operated by United Feeder Services, a Cyprus-based shipping company that said it picked up the cargo in Damietta, Egypt.

An employee of the company’s chartering department who would not identify himself said the ship had been bound from Egypt to Cyprus and from there to Lebanon and Turkey.

A senior Lebanese Army official refused to comment on the report, saying it happened outside Lebanon’s national waters. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.

A Hizbullah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they had no comment on Israel’s claim. Netanyahu said the arms supply “was intended to hit Israeli cities.”