According to the report, the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) has renamed a total of 90 out of its 123 ships since 2008. The company has also reflagged a significant percentage of its fleet, which dropped off the list of the top 100 fleets in the world last April. It previously was ranked as the 23rd largest container line in the world.

Israel has captured a number of Iranian arms ships transferring weaponry to terrorists groups in the region in recent years. Last week, The Jerusalem Post reported on efforts by IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz to recruit EU countries to help counter Iranian smuggling throughout the region. Gantz raised the issue with European counterparts he met at NATO headquarters earlier this month.

The maritime fleet of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL Group) comprises 115 ocean-going vessels with the total capacity of 3.3 million tons deadweight (DWT). The ownership structure of the fleet comprises 87 ocean-going vessels in IRISL and 28 different types of ships under the flag of subsidiaries,

including Khazar Shipping,

Valfajr as well as Iran-India Shipping Companies. They are manned by 6,000 Iranian personnel including shore staff, masters, deck and engine officers as well as ratings, who work under the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf, international waters and various ports of the world.

(Reuters) - Iranian traffickers, trying to dodge an embargo imposed by Western nations over Iran's nuclear program, are smuggling weapons on container ships owned by firms from the countries that imposed the sanctions, a think-tank said on Monday.

"By using respectable mainstream European shipping companies in countries such as Germany and France, they make them their unwitting accomplices," said Hugh Griffiths, a researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.