Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Wednesday that the cargo ship seized by Israel was not carrying weapons, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Asked about the reports over the seizure of an Iranian cargo ship on the coasts of Israel, Muallem said, "Such a thing is not correct and the ship was moving from Syria to Iran and was not carrying any weapons nor the equipment to construct weapons."

A statement issued by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Wednesday said that a cargo ship carrying weapons and ammunition was intercepted by a special force of Israeli navy on Tuesday off the country's coast.

The statement said that after an initial inspection, the ship was found to be carrying a variety of weapons disguised as civilian cargo.

Local daily Ha'aretz reported on its website that the ship was believed to have set out from Iran and later docked in Yemen and Sudan before sailing through the Suez Canal, adding that its final destination was believed to be either Syria or Lebanon.

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