The Navy said the amount of ammonium perchlorate discovered could fuel more than a dozen medium-range ballistic missiles, the same weapons Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have used to target both forces that are internationally allied with it. recognized government of the country and the Saudi-led coalition. supports them. The apparent rearmament effort comes as Iran has threatened Saudi Arabia, the United States and other nations during months of protests calling for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic’s theocracy. Tehran blames foreign powers – not its own disillusioned population – for fueling the protests, which have killed at least 344 people and arrested 15,820 amid a widening crackdown on dissent there. The Houthis could not immediately be reached for comment. Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “This type of mission and just the sheer volume of explosives is a serious concern because it’s destabilizing,” said Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesman for the Middle East-based Navy’s 5th Fleet, told The Associated Press. “Illegal arms transfer from Iran to Yemen leads to instability and violence.” The US Coast Guard ship USCGC John Scheuerman and the destroyer USS The Sullivans stopped a traditional wooden sailing ship known as a dhow in the Gulf of Oman on November 8, the Navy said. During a week-long search, sailors discovered bags of ammonium perchlorate hidden inside what initially appeared to be a 100-ton cargo of urea. Urea, a fertilizer, can also be used to make explosives. The dhow was so burdened by the mission that it posed a danger to nearby mariners in the Gulf of Oman, a route that leads from the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, to the Indian Ocean. The Navy ended up sinking the ship with much of the material still on board because of the danger, Hawkins said. The story continues The Sullivans handed over the four Yemeni crew members to the country’s internationally recognized government on Tuesday. Asked how the Navy knew to stop the ship, Hawkins said only that the Navy knew through “multiple means” that the ship was carrying fuel and that it was coming from Iran to Yemen. He declined to give further details. “Given the fact that it was on a route commonly used to smuggle illegal weapons and drugs from Iran to Yemen, it really tells you what you need to know,” Hawkins said. “It was clearly not meant for good.” The Houthis seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in September 2014 and forced the internationally recognized government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition, armed with US weapons and intelligence, entered the war on the side of Yemen’s exiled government in March 2015. Years of indecisive fighting have pushed the Arab world’s poorest nation to the brink of starvation. A United Nations arms embargo has banned arms transfers to the Houthis since 2014. Nevertheless, Iran has long been transporting rifles, rockets, missiles and other weapons to the Houthis via dhow shipments. Although Iran denies it is arming the Houthis, independent experts, Western nations and UN experts have identified components seized overseas and held on ships back to Iran. A six-month ceasefire in Yemen’s war, the longest of the conflict, expired in October despite diplomatic efforts to renew it. This led to fears that the war could escalate again. More than 150,000 people have been killed in Yemen during the fighting, including over 14,500 civilians.
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