The U.S. Navy announced on Sunday the seizure of a shipment of thousands of assault weapons, machine guns and sniper rifles hidden aboard a ship in the Arabian Sea, apparently bound for Yemen to support the country’s Houthi rebels. A US defense official told The Associated Press that the Navy’s initial investigation found the ship had departed from Iran, linking the country back to Houthi weaponry despite the United Nations arms embargo. Iran’s mission to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment, although Tehran has in the past denied delivering weapons to the rebels.The guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey discovered the weapons aboard what the Navy described as a stateless dhow, a traditional Middle Eastern sailboat, in an operation that began Thursday in the far north of the Arabian Sea off Oman and Pakistan. Sailors boarded the ship and found the weapons, mostly wrapped in green plastic, below deck. They found approximately 3,000 Chinese Type 56 assault rifles, a variant of the Kalashnikov. They also recovered hundreds of other heavy machine guns and sniper rifles, as well as dozens of advanced Russian-made anti-tank guided missiles. The shipments also included several hundred rocket-propelled grenade launchers and optical weapon sights. The seizure has occurred at a time when the United States and other countries are trying to end this conflict that has generated one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world, and this shipment of weapons leads to speculation that the war still has a long way to go.”After all the illicit cargo was removed, the dhow’s navigability was assessed and, after questioning, the crew was provided with food and water before being released,” the Fifth Fleet said in a statement. Accurate seizure, the Middle East-based Navy Fifth Fleet was unable to identify where the weapons originated or where they were going. However, a US defense official said the weapons resembled those in other intercepted shipments destined for the Houthis. The sailors determined the ship came from Iran, said the official who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation. The seizure marks only the latest in the Arabian Sea or the Gulf of Aden involving weapons likely to be destined. to Yemen. The seizures began in 2016 and have continued on and off throughout the war, which has seen the Houthis fire ballistic missiles and use drones subsequently linked to Iran. Yemen is awash in small arms that have been smuggled into poorly controlled ports during years of conflict, and this recent seizure appeared to be among the largest. Tim Michetti, a researcher who studies the illicit arms trade, also said the shipment had similarities to the others. “The unique mix of material recovered by the USS Monterey appears to be consistent with material from previous interdictions, which have been linked to Iran, “he said. Yemen’s war began in September 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and began a march south to try to take over the entire country.Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates and other countries, entered the war alongside Yemen’s internationally recognized government in March 2015. Iran backed the Houthis, who harass Saudi Arabia with missiles and drone strikes. Since 2015, the UN Security Council has imposed an arms embargo on the Houthis. Despite that, UN experts warn that “a growing body of evidence suggests that individuals or entities in the Islamic Republic of Iran supply significant volumes of weapons and components to the Houthis.”
