TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Monday it has resolved a "misunderstanding" over an arms shipment seized in Lagos which Nigeria is likely to report to the United Nations Security Council as a possible breach of sanctions.
"The seized cargo belonged to a private company and it was for sale legitimately to a West African country," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters, without naming the country. "I think the misunderstanding has been resolved."
Diplomatic and security sources outside Iran said the intended destination of the weapons had not been clarified yet, but they added that investigations have focused on two Iranians believed to be senior members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.
"One of the Iranian citizens ... provided all the necessary explanations to Nigerian officials," said Mottaki, who visited Nigeria last week. He also criticised suggestions which "are aimed at harming our relationship with Nigeria", but did not elaborate.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Odein Ajumogobia said on Friday that Lagos would report Iran to the Security Council if it found any evidence that the shipment broke U.N. sanctions imposed over its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear activities.
The United States and its allies fear Iran's nuclear programme is a cover to build bombs. Tehran denies this, saying its nuclear work is aimed at generating electricity.
Ajumogobia added that he did not currently believe Iran had broken the sanctions. However, a Nigerian diplomat in New York told Reuters that the Security Council's Iran sanctions committee would definitely be informed.
A Security Council resolution bans Iran from "supplying, selling or transferring directly or indirectly from its territory or by its nationals ... any arms or related material".
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