Dubai: us Navy said it had seized a large cache of assault rifles and ammunition being smuggled by a fishing vessel from Iran, possibly bound for war-torn Yemen. US Navy patrol ships discovered weapons described as a stateless fishing vessel in an operation that began on Monday in the northern reaches of the Arabian Sea off Oman and Pakistan. The sailors boarded the ship and found 1,400 Kalashnikov-style rifles and 226,600 ammunition, as well as five Yemeni crew members.
It is the latest intervention amid the ongoing war in Yemen that pits Iran-backed Houthi rebels against a Saudi-led military coalition. Western countries and UN experts have repeatedly accused Iran of smuggling illegal weapons and technology into Yemen, fueling a civil war and enabling it to fire missiles and drones into neighboring Saudi Arabia.
Iran has denied arms to the Houthis, despite evidence to the contrary.
In an unusually pointed move, a late Wednesday statement from the Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet blamed Iran for sending weapons, saying the boat was sailing along a route “historically in Yemen”. Weapons were used illegally for the Houthis.”
“The direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of arms to the Houthis is a violation of United Nations Security Council resolution and US sanctions,” the statement added.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the intercept.
United Nations Navy Patrol ships transferred the confiscated weapons to the guided-missile destroyer USS O’Kane for commercial shipping due to “danger” before sinking the fishing vessel. It said the Yemeni crew would be sent back.
The US seizure of Yemen’s war-bound weapons, usually Kalashnikov rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, began in 2016 and has continued intermittently. Yemen is replete with small arms that have been smuggled into poorly controlled ports during years of conflict.
The Navy’s 5th Fleet said it has seized nearly 8,700 illegal weapons so far this year, which patrols 2.5 million square miles of territory, including strategically important ones. the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
Yemen’s war broke out in 2014, when the Houthis captured the capital of Sanaa and much of the country’s north. along with Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates And other countries launched a bombing campaign months later to restore the internationally recognized government and drive out the rebels.
The war has killed nearly 130,000 people and led to the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.
It is the latest intervention amid the ongoing war in Yemen that pits Iran-backed Houthi rebels against a Saudi-led military coalition. Western countries and UN experts have repeatedly accused Iran of smuggling illegal weapons and technology into Yemen, fueling a civil war and enabling it to fire missiles and drones into neighboring Saudi Arabia.
Iran has denied arms to the Houthis, despite evidence to the contrary.
In an unusually pointed move, a late Wednesday statement from the Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet blamed Iran for sending weapons, saying the boat was sailing along a route “historically in Yemen”. Weapons were used illegally for the Houthis.”
“The direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of arms to the Houthis is a violation of United Nations Security Council resolution and US sanctions,” the statement added.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the intercept.
United Nations Navy Patrol ships transferred the confiscated weapons to the guided-missile destroyer USS O’Kane for commercial shipping due to “danger” before sinking the fishing vessel. It said the Yemeni crew would be sent back.
The US seizure of Yemen’s war-bound weapons, usually Kalashnikov rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, began in 2016 and has continued intermittently. Yemen is replete with small arms that have been smuggled into poorly controlled ports during years of conflict.
The Navy’s 5th Fleet said it has seized nearly 8,700 illegal weapons so far this year, which patrols 2.5 million square miles of territory, including strategically important ones. the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
Yemen’s war broke out in 2014, when the Houthis captured the capital of Sanaa and much of the country’s north. along with Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates And other countries launched a bombing campaign months later to restore the internationally recognized government and drive out the rebels.
The war has killed nearly 130,000 people and led to the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.
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