US Navy seizes weapons in Arabian Sea likely destined for Yemen
The US Navy on Sunday announced the seizure of a shipment of thousands of assault weapons, machine guns and sniper rifles hidden aboard a ship in the Arabian Sea that was apparently headed to Yemen to support the country's Houthi rebels.
As told to The Associated Press by a US defence official, the navy's initial investigation found that the ship came from Iran. Again linking the Islamic Republic to collaboration with the Houthis despite the UN arms embargo. Tehran has in the past denied delivering weapons to the rebels and Iran's UN mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The seizure comes as the US and other countries seek to end a conflict that has created one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters. So the arms shipment, which has been described as "substantial", shows that the war does not appear to be over yet and may have a long way to go.
The guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey found the weapons aboard what the Navy described as a "stateless dhow", a traditional Middle Eastern sailing vessel, amid an operation that appears to have begun Thursday in the northern end of the Arabian Sea off Oman and Pakistan. Sailors boarded the boat and found the weapons, most of them wrapped in green plastic, below deck. The sailors 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 Russian-made advanced anti-tank guided missiles. The shipments also included several hundred rocket-propelled grenade launchers and optical weapon sights. "After all illicit cargo was removed, the dhow was assessed for seaworthiness and, after being interrogated, the crew was provided with food and water before being released," the Fifth Fleet said in a statement.
Despite this precise seizure, the Navy's Middle East-based Fifth Fleet could not identify where the weapons originated or where they were headed. However, a US defence official said the weapons resembled those in other intercepted shipments destined for the Houthis. Sailors determined the ship came from Iran, said the official who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.
The seizure is just the latest in the Arabian Sea or Gulf of Aden involving weapons likely destined for Yemen. The seizures began in 2016 and have continued intermittently throughout the war, which has seen the Houthis fire ballistic missiles and use drones later linked to Iran. Yemen is awash with small arms that have been smuggled into poorly controlled ports over years of conflict. The latter appeared to be among the largest. Tim Michetti, a researcher who studies the illicit arms trade, also said the shipment had similarities to 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.
In September 2014, Yemen's war began when the Houthis seized Sana'a and began a southward march to try to take over the entire country. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries entered the war alongside Yemen's internationally recognised government in March 2015. Iran backed the Houthis, who are harassing Saudi Arabia with missiles and drone strikes.
Since 2015, the UN Security Council has imposed an arms embargo on the Houthis. Despite this, 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".
