The seized Iranian weapons is new evidence of the Houthis' efforts to continue the war

The interception by the US Navy of a fishing vessel in international waters in the Gulf of Oman on January 6 smuggled 2,116 assault rifles (AK-47) from Iran to the Houthi militia in Yemen, new evidence of the militia's endeavor to continue the war and reject the peace.

The US Fifth Fleet Command stationed in Bahrain confirmed that the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of weapons to the Houthis violates UN Security Council Resolution No. 2216 and international law.

Iran, through leaders in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the Quds Force, and Hezbollah, continues to smuggle advanced weapons, missiles, fuel, and drugs to the Houthis in the capital, Sanaa, and the areas under their control, with the aim of prolonging the war, obstructing any political negotiations, aborting any chances for a peaceful solution to the conflict, as well as blackmailing the international community and using the Yemeni crisis as a bargaining chip and political pressure in the region's crises and threatening the security of Yemen, neighboring countries and maritime security in the region.

The US Navy announced that the seizure took place in a well-known smuggling corridor from Iran to the Yemeni coast, as weapons and six smugglers were seized.

In the past two months, the US Fifth Fleet has intercepted two more fishing vessels in the Gulf of Oman smuggling lethal military aid from Iran to Houthis.

Documents and reports confirm that Iran began sending weapons and ammunition to the Houthis during the six Saada wars between 2004 and 2010, and not as has been the case since 2014, when the Houthis stormed Sanaa and the governorates of Yemen and overthrew the legitimate state.

Over the past years, the American, British and international forces have succeeded in thwarting many smuggling operations of weapons, ammunition, missile components and communication systems to the Houthis in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, arresting foreign and Yemeni elements involved in these operations, which violate Yemeni laws and are criminalized by international law.

Last December, 19 Yemeni border guards participated in a training program funded by the US government.

The US embassy stated in a statement that the two-week program aims to enhance Yemeni border security by preventing the smuggling of illegal weapons across the Yemeni border.

On December 1st, US naval forces in the Middle East intercepted a fishing vessel that was smuggling more than 50 tons of ammunition, fuses and fuel for missiles in the Gulf of Oman along a sea route from Iran to Yemen.

US Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement that Navy personnel discovered the illegal shipment during the verification process, marking the second largest seizure of illegal weapons for the US Fifth Fleet in a month.

Documents and reports indicate the involvement of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, through a smuggling network linked to it, in smuggling weapons and explosives to the Houthis and the "Somali Youth Mujahideen" movement affiliated with al-Qaeda, which uses these weapons and explosives to launch military and suicide attacks on government and military sites and hotels in the capital, Mogadishu.