US transfers guns and ammunition 'captured from Iran' to Ukraine

The US military announced that it had transferred to Ukraine personal weapons and more than half a million rounds of ammunition that it confiscated from a boat "transporting from Iran to Yemen".

"The US government transferred more than 5,000 AK-47s, machine guns, sniper rifles, RPG-7 anti-tank guns and more than 500,000 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces on April 4," the US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) said on April 9.

The US military seized the weapons and ammunition from four ships it intercepted between May 2021 and February 2023 “as they were being transferred by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to Houthi forces in Yemen.” According to CENTCOM, the shipment was enough for Ukraine to equip a brigade.

Weapons suspected to be en route to Yemen were confiscated by the US on the cruiser USS Monterey in May 2021. Photo: US Navy

CENTCOM accused Iran of supporting armed groups in the Middle East "threatening international and regional security, as well as our military, diplomats , US citizens and partners". "We will continue to do whatever it takes to identify and deter Iran's destabilizing activity," CENTCOM said.

The decision to ship the shipment comes as Ukraine faces a significant shortage of ammunition as a $60 billion aid package remains stuck in the US Congress , while support from other Western countries has been delayed.

However, the above batch of individual weapons and half a million rounds of ammunition cannot satisfy Ukraine's demand for important military supplies such as artillery shells and anti-aircraft missile shells.

Tensions in the Middle East escalated after Hamas's attack and Israel's retaliatory campaign in the Gaza Strip, US forces in the Middle East were attacked by militias using drones and rockets, Houthi raids on cargo ships in the Red Sea, and most recently, the Iranian consulate in Syria was attacked by airstrikes.

General Michael Kurilla, head of CENTCOM, on March 7 said the situation in the Middle East was "the most unstable in 50 years" and accused Iran of turning the region into a crisis point. General Kurilla said that despite supporting militia groups in the region, Iran does not want war with the US.

Nguyen Tien (According to AFP )

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