Feb. 15 (UPI) — A U.S. Coast Guard cutter deployed to the Middle East intercepted a shipment of weapons Iran was sending to its proxy Houthi militia in Yemen, the U.S. military said Thursday.
The interception, which occurred Jan. 28 in the Arabian Sea, comes as the Houthis have been attacking commercial and U.S. as well as British military vessels transiting the nearby Red Sea amid Israel’s war against another Tehran proxy militia, Hamas, in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
The U.S. Coast Guard Sentinel-class fast-response cutter USCGC Clarence Sutphin Jr. was assigned to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and located and boarded the vessel in the Arabian Sea. More than 200 packages containing lethal weapons and military equipment were found, CENTCOM said.
The confiscated material included components for medium-range ballistic missiles and underwater and surface drones. Explosives, military-grade communication and network equipment and anti-tank guided missile launcher assemblies were also found.
The U.S. military said the transfer violated several U.N. Security Council resolutions.
“This is yet another example of Iran’s malign activity in the region,” Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, CENTCOM commander, said in a statement.
“Their continued supply of advanced conventional weapons to the Houthis is in direct violation of international law and continues to undermine the safety of international shipping and the free flow of commerce.”
The Houthis — who have been fighting a civil war against the internationally recognized Yemeni government since 2014 — have vowed to attack vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Since it launched its first attack on Nov. 19, some 30 vessels have been targeted by the Houthis, and the United States and Britain have responded with retaliatory strikes into Yemen that the Biden administration says are to degrade the Iran proxy militia’s ability to conduct future strikes while also being a deterrent.