DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. Navy said Tuesday it had found 70 tons of missile fuel ingredients hidden in a fertilizer bag on board a ship en route from Iran to Yemen. – The fire there was broken.
The Navy said the amount of ammonium perchlorate found could fuel more than a dozen medium-range ballistic missiles. This is the same weapon used by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels to target both the country’s internationally recognized government and the Saudi-led coalition. Support them.
An obvious rearmament effort comes when Iran threatens Saudi Arabia, the US, and other countries. Months of Protests Call for Overthrow of Islamic Republic’s TheocracyTehran blames foreign powers, not its disgruntled citizens. At least 344 people were killed and 15,820 arrested in the growing crackdown on dissidents.
The Houthis were not immediately reachable for comment. Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“This type of shipment and large amounts of explosives is a serious concern because it destabilizes,” Cmdr. Told. “Illegal transportation of weapons from Iran to Yemen leads to instability and violence.”
The US Coast Guard vessel USCGC John Schuurmann and the guided-missile destroyer USS Sullivans moored traditional wooden sailing vessels known as dhows in the Gulf of Oman on Nov. 8, the Navy said. During a week-long search, the sailor found bags of ammonium perchlorate hidden in what he initially believed to be a 100-ton cargo of urea.
Urea, a fertilizer, can also be used to make explosives.
The dhows were very heavy with cargo and posed a danger to ships near the Gulf of Oman, the route from the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, to the Indian Ocean. Hawkins said the Navy sank the ship with many supplies on board because of the danger.
The Sullivans turned over the four crew members to the internationally recognized government of Yemen on Tuesday.
Asked how the Navy knew to stop the ship, Hawkins said he knew through “multiple means” that the ship was carrying fuel and that it came from Iran en route to Yemen. just said He declined to elaborate.
“Given the fact that it was on a route normally used to smuggle illegal weapons and drugs from Iran into Yemen, it really tells you what you need to know,” Hawkins said. “It was clearly not meant to be good.”
The Houthis seized Yemen’s capital Sana’a in September 2014 and overthrew the internationally recognized government. In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition armed with US weapons and intelligence entered the war on the side of the Yemeni government-in-exile. Years of decisive fighting have pushed the Arab world’s poorest country to the brink of famine.
A UN arms embargo has prohibited the transfer of arms to the Houthis since 2014. Iran has long shipped rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, missiles and other weapons to the Houthis on dhowsAlthough Iran denies arming the Houthis, independent, Western and UN experts have tracked parts of the vessel seized abroad to Iran.
Six-month ceasefire in Yemen war, longest in conflict, expired in October despite diplomatic efforts to renew it. There are fears that this could escalate the war again. In Yemen, more than 150,000 of his people died during the fighting, including more than 14,500 of her civilians.
___
Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.