Amid arms shortage, US supplies Ukraine with seized Iranian weapons, ammo

Transferred material enough to equip one brigade, says US Central Command

THE US has transferred more than 5,000 ak-47s, rocket launchers and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition seized from Iran to Ukraine as it tries to defend against Russia, the US Central Command announced.

Ukraine has been facing severe shortages of weapons and munitions on the battlefield in its raging war against Russia, with the US unable to send more equipment from its stockpiles until more funding is approved by the much-divided Congress.

On April 4, 2024, the US government transferred over 5,000 AK-47S, machine guns, sniper rifles, RPG-7S and over 500,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces, CENTCOM said. It said the material transferred to Ukraine is enough to equip one Ukrainian brigade — around 4,000 personnel — with small-arms rifles.

“These weapons will help Ukraine defend against Russia's invasion,” CENTCOM said in a statement on Tuesday.

The us obtained ownership of these munitions on December 1, 2023, through the Department of Justice's civil forfeiture claims against Iran's Islamic

Revolutionary Guard Corps. The munitions were seized by the US military and partners “from four separate transiting stateless vessels between 22 May 2021 to 15 Feb 2023,” the statement said.

The US transferred over one million rounds of seized Iranian ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces in October, CNN reported. Over the past year, the US Navy has seized thousands of Iranian assault rifles and more than one million rounds of ammunitionfrom vessels used by iran to ship weapons to th eh out hi rebels.