New seizure of weapons from Iran to Houthis
Arms haul was on way to Yemen French special forces have seized thousands of assault rifles, machineguns and anti-tank missiles in the Gulf of Oman sent from Iran to arm Houthi fighters in Yemen.
UN Central Command in the Middle East published images of the haul on Thursday. It comprised more than 3,000 assault rifles, 578,000 rounds of ammunition and 23 container-launched antitank guided missiles.
The weapons included Chinesemade Type 56 rifles, Russian-made Molot AKS20Us and PKM-pattern machineguns. All have appeared in other seizures of Houthi weapons supplied by Iran.
The seizure comes as Iran faces increasing Western pressure over its shipment of drones to arm Russia in its war on Ukraine, and for its violent crackdown on domestic protesters.
Regional tensions have also heightened after an Israeli drone attack on Saturday on a military workshop in the central Iranian city of Isfahan.
In previous cycles of violence since the collapse of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, Tehran has launched retaliatory attacks at sea.
The latest weapons seizure took place on Jan. 15 in the Gulf of Oman, which stretches from the Strait of Hormuz through to the Arabian Sea and on to the Indian Ocean. The US military said it was a “route historically used to traffic weapons unlawfully from Iran to Yemen.”
A US resolution bans arms transfers to the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen. France operates a naval base in Abu Dhabi, but it usually takes a quieter approach in the region while maintaining a diplomatic presence in Iran.
Iran has long denied arming the Houthis, but Western nations, UN experts and others have traced weaponry ranging from nightvision scopes, rifles and missiles back to Tehran. In November, the US Navy found 70 tons of a missile fuel component hidden among bags of fertilizer aboard a ship bound to Yemen from Iran.
On Jan. 6, US forces intercepted a fishing vessel in the Gulf of Oman that was carrying more than 2,100 assault rifles headed to Yemen
from Iran. The US in December seized a boat loaded with tons of ammunition, chemicals, fuses and rocket propellants bound for the Houthis, who have fired rockets and attack drones at Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Yemeni governments have accused Iran for years of stoking instability by providing the Houthis with weapons, military expertise, money and media coverage.
The chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, told military officials in Aden on Thursday that Tehran was violating international treaties by continuing to deliver lethal weapons to the Houthis.