By Al-Fassel | 2024-01-16

US military personnel seized Iran-made missile warheads and related components, including engines, during a ship-boarding mission off the coast of Somalia last week, US officials said.

The missile parts originated from Iran and were set for transfer to another boat off the Somali coast before continuing on to Yemen, the Washington Post reported Monday (January 15).

The interdiction, launched from the US Navy's expeditionary vessel USS Lewis B. Puller, was conducted by a small special operations combat craft piloted by naval special warfare crew, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

The US Navy recognized the boat as one with a history of transporting illegal weapons from Iran to Somalia, a US defense official said.

The dhow did not have a country flag and the crew of 14 had no identification paperwork, which allowed a search of the vessel.

The weapons it was transporting were confiscated, and the boat, which was deemed "unsafe", was sunk, according to the US military's Central Command (CENTCOM).

"Seized items include propulsion, guidance, and warheads for Houthi medium range ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles, as well as air defense associated components," CENTCOM said in a statement.

"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 statement said.

"It is clear that Iran continues shipment of advanced lethal aid to the Houthis. This is yet another example of how Iran actively sows instability throughout the region," CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla said.

Long history of arms smuggling

The US Navy has conducted regular interdiction missions in the region's waters, intercepting weapons on ships bound for the Iran-backed Houthis.

The Houthis have long been using weapons smuggled into Yemen by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to threaten international navigation and undermine the stability and security of Yemen and the region.

Iranian arms are widely available in the markets of Houthi-controlled Sanaa, and the Iran-fueled arms trade has expanded from Yemen across the Red Sea into Somalia.

In a January 25, 2021, report to the United Nations Security Council, a panel of experts documented three routes Iran uses to smuggle weapons to the Houthis.

One route runs along the coasts of Oman and Yemen; another passes off the Somali coast and involves the use of dhows to transport arms to the Houthis, while a third runs through Bab al-Mandeb strait.

The Houthis are known to engage in two-way arms smuggling with the Horn of Africa: transporting Iranian weapons from Somalia to Yemen on fishing boats and sending arms from Yemen to Somalia to support al-Shabaab.

In a November 2021 report, the Geneva-based Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime said many weapons that Iran supplies to the Houthis are being smuggled to Somalia via the Gulf of Aden.

Multiple maritime interdictions

On January 15, 2023, elite French forces seized a massive shipment of Iranian arms destined for the Houthis in the Gulf of Oman, with support from the US military.

The maritime interdiction took place along a route historically used to traffic weapons unlawfully from Iran to Yemen.

More than 3,000 assault rifles, 578,000 rounds of ammunition and 23 advanced anti-tank guided missiles were recovered, according to CENTCOM.

Earlier the same month, the US Navy intercepted a fishing vessel in the Gulf of Oman as it attempted to smuggle more than 2,100 assault rifles along a maritime route from Iran to Yemen.

In December 2022, US naval forces seized a massive shipment of explosive precursor materials, rocket fuses and propellant being smuggled on a fishing trawler from Iran to Yemen.

The US government obtained ownership of these munitions on July 20, 2023, before transferring approximately 1.1 million 7.62mm rounds to the Ukrainian armed forces in October.

In November 2022, the US Navy scuttled a boat transporting "explosive materials" from Iran to supply the Houthis, with enough power to fuel a dozen ballistic missiles.

The vessel had been intercepted while transiting from Iran along a route historically used to traffic weapons to the Houthis in Yemen, the US Navy said.