Us Intercepts Shipment Of Explosives From Iran To Yemen

  The US Navy intercepted a “large quantity” of explosive material in the Gulf of Oman bound for Yemen from Iran last week, according to a statement from US Naval Forces Central Command.   

  “On November 8, the US 5th Fleet intercepted a fishing vessel in the Gulf of Oman that was smuggling lethal aid, including a large quantity of explosives, from Iran to Yemen,” Central Command wrote in a statement.   

  U.S. forces found more than 70 tons of ammonium perchlorate, “a strong oxidizer commonly used to make rocket and missile fuels as well as explosives,” according to CENTCOM.  One hundred tonnes of urea fertiliser, a chemical compound “known for use as a precursor to explosives”, was also found.   

  The vessel, carrying four Yemeni crew members, was intercepted while traveling from Iran along a route “historically used to smuggle arms to the Houthis in Yemen.”   

  The vessel was sunk on November 13 in the Gulf of Oman after US forces determined the vessel posed a navigational hazard to commercial shipping.