The US government has transferred to Ukraine more than 1 million rounds of small arms ammunition seized while being smuggled from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to the Houthis in Yemen.

US naval forces seized the munitions from the transiting stateless dhow MARWAN 1 last December, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement October 3.

"The US government transferred approximately 1.1 million 7.62mm rounds to the Ukrainian armed forces" on October 2, the statement said.

The US government obtained ownership of these munitions on July 20 through the Department of Justice (DoJ)'s civil forfeiture claims against the IRGC.

The DoJ had 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 IRGC to militant groups in Yemen," according to a July 6 press release by the department's Office of Public Affairs.

'Poetic justice'

The United States has spearheaded the push for international support for Ukraine, which is fighting a protracted war against Russia.

Washington has committed $43.9 billion in military assistance to Kyiv since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 -- more than half of all international security aid to the country.

"The US is committed to working with our allies and partners to counter the flow of Iranian lethal aid in the region by all lawful means including US and UN [United Nations] sanctions and through interdictions," CENTCOM said in the October 3 press statement.

"Iran's support for armed groups threatens international and regional security, our forces, diplomatic personnel, and citizens in the region, as well as those of our partners," it added. "We will continue to do whatever we can to shed light on and stop Iran’s destabilizing activities."

Throughout the war in Ukraine, Iran has been supplying Russia with lethal drones (also known as unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs) capable of suicide bombings, surveillance, intelligence and combat, according to Ukrainian military intelligence.

"For over a year, Iranian UAVs in the hands of the Russian military have been used to attack and murder Ukrainian civilians," Jonathan Lord, a senior fellow and director of the Middle East security program at the Center for a New American Security, said in an interview with CNN.

He called it "poetic justice" that Ukraine is now "utilizing seized Iranian weapons to defend its people against Russia's criminal invasion and abuses."

Weapons seizures

US and Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) have made several other seizures of weapons and explosives in the Gulf of Oman over the past two years.

US naval forces on January 6 intercepted a fishing vessel while transiting international waters along a maritime route from Iran to Yemen and discovered it smuggling 2,116 AK-47 assault rifles.

"This shipment is part of a continued pattern of destabilizing activity from Iran," Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of US Naval Forces Central Command, US 5th Fleet and CMF, said at the time.

"These threats have our attention. We remain vigilant in detecting any maritime activity that impedes freedom of navigation or compromises regional security," he said.

On January 15, the US Navy assisted the French military in seizing more than 3,000 assault rifles headed from Iran to Yemen, as well as 23 anti-tank guided missiles and 578,000 rounds of ammunition.

Following the seizure, the US took custody of the confiscated weapons, according to CENTCOM.

The US 5th Fleet intercepted two other fishing vessels in the Gulf of Oman smuggling lethal aid from Iran to Yemen late last year.

On November 5, US naval forces intercepted more than 70 tons of ammonium perchlorate, "a powerful oxidizer commonly used to make rocket and missile fuel as well as explosives," as well as 100 tons of urea fertilizer, a chemical compound "known for use as an explosive precursor," according to CENTCOM.

On December 1, US forces seized more than 50 tons of ammunition rounds, fuses and propellants for rockets.

On two separate occasions in January and February 2022, the British Royal Navy seized weapons from speedboats being operated by smugglers in international waters south of Iran.

The seizures included multiple rocket engines for the Iranian produced "351" land attack cruise missile and a batch of "358" surface to air missiles, the Royal Navy announced on July 7, 2022.

Partners working together

While Iran denies arming the Houthis, forensic evidence has linked the Islamic Republic's support for the Houthis since the 2014 coup that unseated the Yemeni government, leading to a devastating war and one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Arms smuggling is prevalent in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman, with the Houthis engaging in this illicit activity via several previously documented routes.

One route runs along the coasts of Oman and Yemen, and another passes off the Somali coast, while a third runs through Bab al-Mandeb strait, according to a UN Security Council panel of experts on Yemen.

CMF partner forces work together to promote security, stability and prosperity across approximately 3.2 million square miles (8.3 million square km) of international waters.

CMF's self-described main focus areas are "defeating terrorism, preventing piracy, encouraging regional cooperation and promoting a safe maritime environment."

The multi-national naval partnership among 38 member nations "helps strengthen regional nations' maritime capabilities and, when requested, responds to environmental and humanitarian crises," according to the US-led coalition's website.

Regional members include Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Continued support to CMF members' militaries will further enhance the security of the region, which encompasses some of the world's most important shipping lanes in addition to notorious smuggling routes.