The U.S. Navy helped French naval forces intercept and seize thousands of assault rifles and half a million rounds of ammunition coming from Iran and heading to Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, officials said on Feb. 1.
In a statement, the U.S. military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said the seizure occurred on Jan. 15 in the Gulf of Oman along routes “historically used to traffic weapons unlawfully from Iran to Yemen.”
Officials said more than 3,000 assault rifles, 578,000 rounds of ammunition, and 23 advanced anti-tank guided missiles were recovered in cooperation with international naval partners.
“The seizure is one of four significant illicit cargo interdictions over the past two months that have prevented more than 5,000 weapons and 1.6 million rounds of ammunition from reaching Yemen,” CENTCOM said….