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U.S. officials released photos Thursday of the missile parts intercepted by military personnel believed to be from Iran headed to Yemen.
The photos were displayed during an on-the-record briefing with Brian Hook, the U.S. Special Representative for Iran and senior adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Suspected Iranian missile headed for Yemen
On Wednesday, officials told Fox News a U.S. Navy warship intercepted a “significant cache” of alleged Iranian missile parts that were on their way to stock the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
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This is the first time such high-level missile components have been seized en route to the four-year civil war in Yemen, officials said. The U.S. has repeatedly accused Iran of smuggling arms to the rebels, who are battling the Yemeni government. Saudi Arabia, backed by U.S. arms sales, has intervened in the war to counter Iranian influence in the region.
Suspected Iranian missiles headed for Yemen
IRANIAN MISSILE PARTS HEADED TO YEMEN CAPTURED BY US NAVY WARSHIP, OFFICIALS SAY
A small Navy boat and a Coast Guard boarding team seized the weapons last Wednesday in the northern Arabian Sea.
According to officials, the USS Forrest Sherman, part of the Harry S. Truman strike group operating in the region, was conducting routine maritime operations when sailors noticed a small wooden boat that was not displaying a flag from any country.
Navy and Coast Guard personnel stopped the boat and boarded it for inspection when they found the weapons. They did not determine an exact number but asserted it was a significant cache.
They said the small boat was towed to port and the boat’s crew was transferred to the Yemeni Coast Guard. The weapons are being stored on the American warship.
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The civil war in Yemen is seen by many as a proxy conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia. In light of the violence, 20 million people have been rendered food-insecure, with half of those suffering extreme levels of hunger, according to a United Nations report from February.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.