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The UN report says Iraqi ports are key points for arms smuggling into Yemen. Photo/Illustration
Secret UN report details how thousands of rocket launchers, machine guns, sniper rifles and other weapons were seized in the Arabian Sea by the Navy United States of America (US) is smuggled along the route to Yemen via wooden boats and land transport, according to a UN report seen by the WSJ.
According to a UN report, the weapons were made in Russia, China and Iran. The weapons were smuggled from Iran’s Jask port on the Sea of Oman.
“US officials say Jask has been used as a departure point for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for some time, but the UN report provides the first detailed evidence of a specific arms shipment linked to the port,” the WSJ report cited. Al Arabiya, Sunday (9/1/2022).
Iran has long been accused of fomenting the flames of violence in the Middle East through financial and military support to Shia proxy networks in the region, particularly in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. But Tehran denies the accusations.
Last December, the US Navy seized two large warehouses storing weapons from Iran on two ships in the Arabian Sea. The weapons were sent by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to the Houthi militia in Yemen, according to the US Department of Justice.
Also read: US Seizes 1,400 AK-47 Assault Rifles from Iran
The seizure comes months after the US guided-missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill seized what was reported as an illegal shipment of weapons and weapons components from two stateless vessels off the coast of Somalia.
The seizure, which took place on February 11-12, 2021, resulted in the seizure of a number of weapons, including thousands of AK-47-style assault rifles, submachine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and heavy sniper rifles.
Also read: Arab Coalition Angry by Houthis Hijacks United Arab Emirates-flagged Ship
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