Ah, makes sense.

I once met a guy who sold chemicals who said he couldn't sell in some countries because the chemicals he sold for farming could be used for chemical weapons.  Apparently he'd fly to Syria then drive a truck into Iraq... funny the people you can meet in a bar in a foreign country.  Guy specifically knew i was American too as he asked why America reelected Bush.

Didn't know such chemicals were often banned just in general as well.

Nuclear seems unlikely unless Iran was just liquidating it's old stock, or is a lot better at hiding it's nuclear weapons program then we thought.

Chemical seems most likely if hidden with "tractor parts".

Anything is possible, but Iran and Venezuela have been courting close ties as of late (since Bush tagged them both as being part of the "Axis of Evil").  So it actually makes sense that it would be going there.  Secondly, the arms that get shipped to the Colombian cartels tend to go thru Venezuela as of late to avoid seizure of the cargo by the Federal forces of the Colombian Military.  Venezuela first, and smuggling over the border is the safer alternative.

HAHA, yeah, well I am an American, but when I am abroad I usually get mistaken for a Mexican for some reason and they ask me why we can't defeat the cartels! (believe it or not, I am actually olive skinned, and the flash in my avatar pic just whites me out for some reason, and I speak Spanish in a perfect Mexican-accent because of my grandfather)... anyway, neither here nor there, but funny none-the-less...

But, yes, I do agree, it seems more likely to be chemical/biological in nature.  Iran is very new to the nuclear club, so while it's doubtful that they have the capability yet to prop up an ally with the technology, I know they probably would if could.  Hypothetically, Iran would love for Venezuela to go nuclear to put a threat so close to our borders.  A fairly simplistic rocket would be enough to deliver a nuclear warhead from Venezuela to our shores.

Yet, if the U.S. even got a small-whiff of an idea that Venezuela was building a nuclear reactor, we'd invade or bomb them so fast they wouldn't have time to blink an eye.

Err, maybe I need to brush up my geography but why would a shipment bound to Venezuela from Iran would need to go through Turkey exacly? If they really wanted to hide whatever it was they just would have send it directly by ship.

Second, people really need to stop believing everything they read. One would have though they would learn what with Iraq and Georgia.

A quicker route to Venezuela would be to take first through another nation's port, and then the northern route through the Bosphorus and into the Mediteranean.  If the ship were to leave directly from Iran and through the Straits of Hormuz, then as it headed east, it would eventually have to go through the Panama Canal (which is under U.S. influence) and would thereby increase its chances of the illegal cargo being detected.  It could head south and wrap around the Arabian penensula, and make it's way to the Suez Canal, but then it would have to go through the pirate infested waters of Somalia.

So, in my opinion, it would have been the safest and easiest route to take to reduce the chance of detection or hijacking.  Of course, the plan still didn't work, but you get the idea.

Probably has something to do with ECO... or shipping it from there to make it look less suspisous... or just not wanting to go through american waters.

I doubt georgia has any motivation to lie about this.  They make all sorts of money off Iran yearly.

@Vagabond
A drug sniffing turkey would just pretend he didn't find anything then come back later with two flamincos and three shovels and keep the blow for themselves. I've seen it happen a million times. Don't send a turkey to do a dog's job.

Venezuela was neither listed in the Axis of Evil (Iraq, Iran, and NK) nor the Beyond Axis (Cuba, Syria, and...Sudan or Libya (I forget which one)). Anyway, I suppose possible arm shipments could be intended to supply FARC rebels. It is already suspected that Venezuela supplies them with money and minor weapons. Iran and Venezuela have also used rhetoric that would indicate a joint willingness to support select rebel groups. I am curious to see how this issue resolves itself.

Right, Venezuela is not a part of the Axis of Evil.  But it has been proved that Chavez has supported the FARC, a terrorist group hated (and happily nearly defeated) by the Colombians.  Since Chavez jet-sets all around the world meeting with the worst kind of despots, and he is determined to continue moving closer to them through things like joint naval exercises with Russian naval vessels in the Caribbean, it wouldn't suprise me in the least if Iran were shipping them something suspect.  Hopefully we'll find out.

Go Turkey!

Keep up the good work!