British navy seizes missiles from Iran

The British navy seized antitank missiles and fins for ballistic missile assemblies during a raid on a small boat heading from Iran probably to Yemen, authorities said Thursday, the latest such seizure in the Gulf of Oman.

The raid took place Feb. 23 after a U.S. aircraft detected a small motorboat with cargo covered by a gray tarp heading from Iran, the British Defense Ministry said.

The boat tried to reenter Iranian territorial water but was stopped before it could.

In the boat, British troops found Russian-designed 9M133 Kornet antitank guided missiles, weapons also made in Iran, the U.S. Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet and the British navy said.

Those weapons have been seen in other seizures suspected to be from Iran and bound for Yemen.

Sailors also found small fins the U.S. Navy identified as jet vanes for medium-range ballistic missiles.

The U.S. Navy described the seizure as happening “along a route historically used to traffic weapons unlawfully to Yemen.”