More than 3,000 assault rifles, 578,000 rounds of ammunition and 23 anti-tank guided missiles. A shipment from Americans to Ukrainians defending themselves from Russian invaders? No, a shipment from the Islamic Republic of Iran to Houthi rebels attempting to take over Yemen.
The good news is that these weapons didn’t arrive as scheduled. In coordination with the U.S. military, French special forces seized them on Jan. 15 in the Gulf of Oman. It’s encouraging to see Western allies working together against common enemies.
But this was no isolated incident. On Jan. 6, U.S. forces intercepted a vessel carrying 2,100 assault rifles from Iran bound for Yemen. And in December, the Navy seized a boat loaded with 1,400 AK-47 rifles, 226,000 rounds of ammunition, and rocket propellants.
How many such shipments have made it into the hands of the Houthi movement is anyone’s guess. But the insurgents have sufficient firepower to hold much of western Yemen, including Sanaa, the capital.
The Islamic Republic has become the Arsenal of Tyranny. Thanks to its assistance, Lebanon-based Hezbollah outguns the Lebanese armed forces. The regime provides weapons to its troops and proxies in Syria and Iraq, to Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza and, increasingly, in the northern West Bank, of which the Palestinian Authority has been losing control. Israel does its best to destroy such weapons caches either en route or upon arrival.
Source » washingtontimes