U.S. Navy intercepts over 2,000 assault rifles on Iranian fishing vessel

By Dean Murray via SWNS

The U.S. Navy made a big catch when they landed a haul of over 2,000 assault rifles - on a fishing vessel.

Naval forces intercepted the weapons aboard an unassuming boat in the Gulf of Oman on Jan. 6.

They discovered it smuggling 2,116 AK-47 assault rifles while transiting international waters along a maritime route from Iran to Yemen.

A U.S. Navy boarding team from the patrol coastal ship USS Chinook initially found and seized the weapons with support from USS Monsoon and the guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans.

The intercepted vessel, which was sailing on a route historically used to traffic illicit cargo to the Houthis in Yemen, was crewed by six Yemeni nationals.

The U.S. Navy explained: "The direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of weapons to the Houthis violates U.N. Security Council Resolution 2216 and international law. The transfer of the vessel and its crew for repatriation is in progress."

Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces, said: "This shipment is part of a continued pattern of destabilizing activity from Iran.

"These threats have our attention. We remain vigilant in detecting any maritime activity that impedes freedom of navigation or compromises regional security."

In the past two months, U.S. 5th Fleet has also intercepted two other fishing vessels in the Gulf of Oman smuggling lethal aid from Iran to Yemen.

Forces operating from the expeditionary sea base USS Lewis B. Puller seized more than 50 tons of ammunition rounds, fuses and propellants for rockets on 1st December.

Weeks earlier, on Nov. 8, The Sullivans, USS Hurricane and U.S. Coast Guard ship USCGC John Scheuerman intercepted more than 70 tons of ammonium perchlorate, a powerful oxidizer commonly used to make rocket and missile fuel, as well as 100 tons of urea fertilizer.

The U.S. 5th Fleet operating area includes 21 countries, the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean and three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, Bab al-Mandeb and Suez Canal.