New York  - The United Arab Emirates claimed to have seized a ship carrying banned weapons from North Korea bound for Iran, diplomatic sources said in New York.

The incident, which took place earlier this month, was apparently reported to the North Korea sanctions panel of the United Nations Security Council by the UAE.

The United States and China are among scores of countries that last week reported having implemented Security Council sanctions against North Korea for continuing its prohibited nuclear activities.

In June, the council adopted a resolution to ban export of all weapons to North Korea as well as all financial transactions that could contribute to its nuclear weapons programme.

The sanctions that were imposed after Pyongyang's nuclear tests in May, were aimed at returning to the process of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and meeting previous commitments made in six- nation talks - involving the United States, Russia, China, Japan, and North and South Korea - whose goal is to dismantle Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme. (dpa)