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Iranwire – The US military says it seized Iranian-made missile parts and other weaponry from a ship bound for Yemen’s Houthi rebels in a raid last week.
Navy SEALs conducted the January 9 raid in the Arabian Sea, with the commandos launching from the guided missile frigate USS Lewis B. Puller backed by drones and helicopters, the US military’s Central Command (USCENTCOM) said in a statement on January 16.
The raid marked the latest seizure by the US Navy and its allies of weapon shipments bound for the Yemeni rebels, who have launched a series of attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over Israel’s war on Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
The Houthi attacks and US-led retaliatory strikes have raised tensions across the Middle East, which saw Iran’s Revolutionary Guards conduct missile strikes in Iraq and Syria.
The SEALs found Iranian-made ballistic missile and cruise missiles components, including propulsion and guidance devices, as well as warheads, Central Command said, adding, “Initial analysis indicates these same weapons have been employed by the Houthis to threaten and attack innocent mariners on international merchant ships transiting in the Red Sea.”
The Houthis or Iranian officials did not immediately comment on the seizure.
A United Nations resolution bans arms transfers to Yemen’s rebels.
The US Navy ultimately sank the ship carrying the weapons after deeming it unsafe, the statement said, while “the fate of the 14 dhow crewmembers will be determined in accordance with international law.”
Two SEALs participating in the operation were “lost at sea,” it also said.
“We are conducting an exhaustive search for our missing teammates,” said General Michael Erik Kurilla, USCENTCOM Commander.
