Act Daily News
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The US intercepted a cargo of greater than 2,000 Iranian assault rifles destined for Yemen, based on a press release from the US navy.
The interception came about in worldwide waters within the Gulf of Oman on Monday, US Central Command stated. A crew from the USS Chinook, a patrol coastal vessel, boarded the opposite ship alongside a route traditionally used to smuggle weapons from Iran to the Houthis in Yemen.
A photograph from the USS The Sullivans exhibits the two,116 assault rifles masking the deck of the guided missile destroyer.
“The illegal flow of weapons from Iran through international waterways has a destabilizing effect on the region,” stated Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, the commander of US Central Command.
Yemen has been engulfed in a devastating civil warfare since 2015, which has plunged the Gulf nation into what has lengthy been recognized by help teams as one of many world’s worst humanitarian crises. Iran has supported the Houthis, a insurgent group who overthrew the federal government firstly of the warfare, towards a coalition led by Saudi Arabia and aided by US navy help. The warfare between the 2 factions has brutalized the nation, resulting in widespread poverty and famine, and tens of 1000’s of civilian casualties.
Tensions between the US and Iran have elevated in current months as a result of crackdowns on civil unrest all through the nation. Additional US sanctions on Iranian officers had been introduced simply final week over their involvement within the manufacturing of drones being utilized by Russia of their warfare towards Ukraine.
The US has intercepted different shipments of weapons and explosives earlier than alongside comparable routes.
In November, the Navy seized what it described as a “large quantity” of explosives from a fishing vessel within the Gulf of Oman. The cargo included 70 tons of ammonium perchlorate and 100 tons of urea fertilizer, that are used to make explosives and rocket gasoline. US forces sunk the vessel after figuring out it was a hazard to navigation for business delivery.