On Sunday the U.S. Navy reported seizing an arms shipment consisting of thousands of assault weapons, machines guns and rifles that had been concealed on a ship in the Arabian Sea. The U.S. Navy says these were apparently headed for Yemen.
The Associated Press reported an American defense official said that “the Navy’s initial investigation found the vessel came from Iran, again tying the Islamic Republic to arming the Houthis despite a United Nations arms embargo.” Iran has denied giving the rebels weapons previously.
The discovery and confiscation of the weapons comes as diplomats from numerous countries and the U.S. attempt to end the conflict there. A humanitarian crisis is still occurring in the country.
The USS Monterey found weapons on a traditional Mideast sailing ship. After boarding, sailors found the weapons below deck.
There were nearly 3,000 Chinese Type 56 assault rifles, a variant of the Kalashnikov; hundreds of other heavy machine guns, sniper rifles, Russian-made anti-tank guided missiles and other armaments.