[1] Israeli commanders had received intelligence reports that the ship MV Francop was carrying weapons originating from Iran, which were to be transferred to Hezbollah.

In 2010, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1929 authorized states to seize items, including arms, that Iran is forbidden from exporting.

[2] On November 5, 2009, ambassadors and diplomats from 44 countries, military attaches from 27 armies in the world, and the international media were invited by the IDF and the Foreign Ministry to show them the weapons and munitions seized from the Francop ship.

[8] President of Israel Shimon Peres said, "Today the whole world can see the large gap between Syria and Iran's statements and their actual activities.

Hezbollah made a statement to the press in which it denied "any connection with the weapons which the Zionist enemy claims it seized aboard the Francop ship".

[10] Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said, "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.