Yemeni authorities have stopped a boat in their territorial waters carrying a large cache of explosives, weapons, and money, including surface-to-air missiles, said U.S. officials on Monday, according to Reuters. Officials said there were indications that the weapons traced back to Iran.
Security forces halted and searched a 130-foot sailboat last Tuesday and found rocket-propelled grenades, C4-grade explosives, 122-millimeter shells, and bomb-making equipment, including remote triggers and electronic circuits, according to a report by the government of Yemen.
An anonymous U.S. official told Reuters that the Yemeni mission was coordinated with the U.S. Navy, and that a Navy destroyer was nearby. According to The New York Times, if the weapons turn out to include the Iranian Misagh-2 surface-to-air-missile, it could represent big changes in the lethal capabilities of insurgents in Yemen.
Another U.S. official told Reuters that the intercepted shipment was believed to come from Iran and was destined for insurgents, likely Houthis, in Yemen. "This demonstrates the ever pernicious Iranian meddling in other countries in the region," said the second U.S. official.
Yemen has become a proxy battlefield for the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. Yemen has accused Iran of supporting Houthi insurgents, who have fought intermittently against the Yemeni government from 2004 to 2010. The United States and Saudi Arabia have publicly supported Yemen's security efforts, while at the same time providing additional secret security assistance as well, reported the Times. In the case of the United States, this includes the U.S. secret drone strike program.