UK Navy’s HMS Montrose carrying out maritime operations in the Persian Gulf (AFP)
The UK Navy said on Thursday that its warship seized Iranian missiles early this year.
The Royal Navy said the Iranian weapons, which included surface-to-air-missiles and engines for cruise missiles, were being transported by Iranian speedboats on January 28 and February 25. The frigate HMS Montrose intercepted the shipments in international waters south of Iran.
The Navy statement explained:
The seized packages were returned to the UK for technical analysis which revealed that the shipment contained multiple rocket engines for the Iranian-produced 351 land attack cruise missile and a batch of [the Iranian] 358 surface-to-air missiles.
The Navy did not give a destination for the weapons, but it said the 351 cruise missile, with a range of 1,000 km (620 miles), is often used by Iran-supported Houthi insurgents in Yemen.
The Houthis took over much of Yemen, including the capital Sana’a, in 2014. That prompted a military intervention by Saudi Arabia and the UAE in March 2015. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed, and millions are at risk of famine amid blockades by each side.
Iran acknowledges that it provides political support for the Houthis, who have carried out drone attacks on Saudi installations including oil facilities, but denies that it is giving military assistance.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani responded to the UK Navy’s announcement:
By continuously selling advanced weapons to the self-proclaimed military coalition against the defenseless people of Yemen, Britain has been a partner in the war and aggression against Yemen, and it is not in a position to make such baseless accusations about the Islamic Republic of Iran and assume a humanitarian face.
The US Navy destroyer USS Gridley supported the February seizure.
Central Command spokesperson Col. Joseph Buccino said, “This action demonstrates that we will not allow irresponsible and aggressive acts by Iran to go unchecked on land, sea, and air.”