Russian customs seize Iran-bound radioactive metal
Moscow's Federal Customs Service seizes small shipment of radioactive isotope after radiation alert go off at Sheremetyevo Airport. Meanwhile, South Korea imposes new financial sanctions on Tehran
Russia's customs agency has seized radioactive metal from the luggage of a passenger bound for Iran.
In a statement released Friday, Moscow's Federal Customs Service said that its agents found 18 pieces of metal at the Russian capital's Sheremetyevo Airport after a radiation alert went on. It said that the gauges showed radiation levels 20 times higher than normal.
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Russia's Interfax news agency said the pieces contained Sodium-22, a radioactive isotope of sodium that could only be produced at a nuclear reactor.
Meanwhile, South Korea announces Friday that it intends to impose new sanctions on Iran, adding more than 100 names to a financial blacklist of Iranian firms and individuals.
Soul thus joins a fresh multinational effort to press Iran to scrap its suspected nuclear weapons program.
South Korea has added 99 Iranian firms and six individuals to 24 individuals and 102 Iranian entities blacklisted by Seoul in September last year.
Those on the blacklist will require approval from South Korea's Central Bank before conducting any foreign currency transactions.
The measures do not include a ban on imports of petrochemicals or crude oil, in what one analyst saw as an attempt to protect its economic ties with the Middle Eastern nation.
Britain, Canada and the United States slapped sanctions last month on Iran's financial, petrochemical and energy sectors following a UN nuclear agency report that strongly suggested Tehran is researching atomic weapons.
AP and AFP contributed to this report
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