Iranian Arms Shipment to Houthis Was Intercepted: US

A record-breaking cache of Iranian weapons, including advanced missiles and drone technology, was intercepted en route to Yemen's Houthi rebels, US Central Command announced Wednesday, calling the seizure the largest of its kind. Yemen's National Resistance Forces seized more than 750 tons of Iranian arms, CBS News reports. The CENTCOM commander, Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, said that blocking such shipments is crucial to maintaining security and safe shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden—waters that have seen repeated attacks on vessels by the Houthis. The seizure also shows that Iran "remains the most destabilizing actor in the region," Kurilla said.

Kurilla praised Yemen's "legitimate government forces" for choking off the arms flow. The National Resistance Forces works with the US military and is allied with Tariq Saleh, a nephew of Yemen's late strongman leader Ali Abdullah Saleh, per the AP. CENTCOM noted that much of the hardware in the shipment was made by a company linked to Iran's Ministry of Defense, already sanctioned by the US, and that Farsi-language manuals were included. The Yemeni force said the seizure happened in June; the Houthis have not acknowledged it.

The attacks on commercial and military ships have brought airstrikes from the US military. Although President Trump has reported Houthi capitulation, the group has continued its attacks, including a recent strike on a Liberian-flagged cargo ship that left three dead and several kidnapped.