US Files Forfeiture Complaint For Iranian Weapons Seized By Navy

Thousands of AK-47 assault rifles sit on the flight deck of guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans (DDG 68) during an inventory process on January 7, 2023.
Thousands of AK-47 assault rifles sit on the flight deck of guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans (DDG 68) during an inventory process on January 7, 2023.

The US Justice Department filed a forfeiture complaint Friday for suspected Iranian arms confiscated by the US Navy from vessels in the Persian Gulf region since 2021.

The Justice Department filed a forfeiture complaint against, “over 9,000 rifles, 284 machine guns, approximately 194 rocket launchers, over 70 anti-tank guided missiles, and over 700,000 rounds of ammunition that the US Navy seized in transit from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to militant groups in Yemen,” a statement said.

The arms were seized on four occasions, twice in 2021 and twice in 2023, from stateless small vessels in regional waters, apparently part of regular Iranian arms supplies to Houthi fighters in Yemen. Iran is also suspected of supplying drone and missile technology and production means to Houthis who overthrew Yemen’s government in early 2015.

“These interdictions led to the discovery and seizure of four large caches of conventional weapons, including long arms and anti-tank missiles, and related munitions – all of which were determined to be primarily of either Iranian, Chinese, or Russian origin,” the Justice Department said.

It also underscored that the seizure showed continued efforts aimed at stopping illicit weapons trafficking by the IRGC.

In March, the US government took forfeiture action against over one million rounds of ammunition “en route from Iran to Yemen.”

US government agencies with “assistance from US Naval Forces Central Command, will continue to identify, disrupt, and dismantle Iran’s illicit flow of weapons at every level to prevent Iran’s illicit activity in the region and globally,” HSI Washington, DC Special Agent in Charge Derek W. Gordon said.