MILAN, Italy _ Italian police have arrested two Iranians and five Italians who were selling arms and explosives to Iran in defiance of an international embargo, authorities said Wednesday.
Two other Iranians were being sought in the busted arms trafficking ring, police and investigators told a news conference in Milan, where anti-terrorism prosecutor Armando Spataro led the monthslong probe.
The four Iranians _ one of them a correspondent of Iranian state television _ were described by Italian authorities as spies.
The trafficking, uncovered by the probe code-named ``Sniper,'' was aimed at funneling arms to sharpshooters, among others, in Iran, the authorities said.
Spataro said the arms were being shipped through third countries to try to avoid the scrutiny of the arms embargo against Iran.
The material ``wasn't directly sent to Iran, because it would have been forbidden and immediately discovered, but sent via London, Romania, Switzerland and United Arab Emirates,'' Spataro said.
Police displayed the seized arms and related material, including gun scopes and tracer bullets. They said some of the material for explosives was purchased in Germany and could be used to make firebombs.
Milan border police Gen. B. Attilio Iodice said investigators, who tapped the suspects' phones for several months, believed they have eradicated the ring.
The suspects were accused in the warrants of criminal association for the trafficking of arms and material that could be used for arms in violation of the embargo against Tehran.