US Military Helped Intercept Yemen-Bound Weapons From Iran: Pentagon
The US military says it played a role in an operation last month that intercepted an Iranian shipment of weapons to Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The US military says it played a role in an operation last month that intercepted an Iranian shipment of weapons to Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
US Central Command confirmed over 3,000 assault rifles, 578,000 rounds of ammunition, and 23 anti-tank guided missiles were confiscated.
It also added that the seizure is “one of four significant illicit cargo interdictions over the past two months,” which has prevented the transfer of more than 5,000 weapons and 1.6 million rounds of ammo to Yemen. Another seizure of arms was announced earlier in January.
In a separate release on Wednesday, CENTCOM also announced that Yemeni security forces recently seized 100 unmanned aerial vehicle engines “bound for Houthi militants,” but it did not specify when the seizure happened.
The seizure came just five days after CENTCOM announced that the US had intercepted a shipment of 2,116 Iranian assault rifles heading for Yemen.
Yemen has been the scene of a civil war since 2015. Tehran has supported the Houthis, a rebel group that overthrew the government at the beginning of the war, against a Saudi-led coalition. The war has caused widespread poverty and left tens of thousands of civilian casualties, creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises as aid workers say.
The missile dubbed Al-Saqr or falcon in Arabic, is a loitering weapon developed to counter drones and helicopters, Tasnim claims in a detailed article on Wednesday. It says that the weapon is also known as Missile-358.
Tasnim has also published photos of the weapon as it was displayed at a Houthi parade in Yemen, implying that the technology could have been provided by Iran.
The report says Al-Saqr is 2.7 meters long, weighing 58 kilograms and a diameter of 15 centimeters carrying a ten-kilogram warhead. It can reach an altitude of 28,000 feet but is designed against low-flying drones.
Tasnim claims that the weapon is equipped with both optical and heat-seeking capabilities. The warhead is equipped with proximity fuses and has been able to destroy three Saudi drones.
It is not clear why the IRGC-affiliated website would advertise a Houthi weapon and imply that the technology is Iranian, except to show that the Islamic Republic can play a disruptive role in the region.
Tasnim also describes Al-Saqr as a loitering munition that is equipped with a “microjet” engine but uses a rocket booster at the launch stage, which separates from the missile after reaching a certain altitude.
The report also said that the Yemeni weapon can be a sign that Iran has developed low-altitude air defense capabilities against drones. It added that Houthis have deployed many weapon systems similar to what Iran has in its arsenal.
