The US decided to send a million rounds of ammunition from Iran to Ukraine

Washington handed over ammunition confiscated in the Persian Gulf to the Ukrainian Armed Forces

Washington decided to transfer one million ammunition of Iranian origin to Ukraine. The US Department of Justice claimed ownership of the ammunition on the grounds that it was smuggled into Houthi forces in Yemen in violation of a UN embargo.

The United States has supplied Ukraine with more than a million Iranian ammunition confiscated in the Persian Gulf late last year, The Guardian writes.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) has already transferred more than a million pieces of seized Iranian ammunition to Ukraine’s armed forces, it announced on Wednesday. The transfer took place on Monday, CENTCOM said in a press release.

“The Government obtained title to these munitions on July 20, 2023, through civil forfeiture claims by the Department of Justice against the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),” the statement said.

The transfer of ammunition follows a civil forfeiture case brought by the US Department of Justice to obtain ownership on the grounds that the ammunition was seized while being smuggled into Yemen’s Houthi forces in violation of a UN arms embargo.

“We will continue to use every legal authority at our disposal to support Ukraine in its fight for freedom, democracy and the rule of law,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Wednesday.

The US Department of Justice is also seeking the forfeiture of confiscated weapons from other seized caches, including 9,000 assault rifles, 284 machine guns, about 194 rocket launchers and more than 70 anti-tank guided missiles.

According to The Guardian, 7.62 mm caliber cartridges with a length of 1.1 m were seized on December 9, 2022 from the dhow of no nationality, Marwan1, by naval vessels of the US Central Command. Thousands of proximity fuses for rocket-propelled grenades were seized along with the cargo.

The US said the munitions were sent by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and were intended for its Houthi allies in Yemen’s civil war. Since then, the confiscated ammunition has been stored in warehouses in the Middle East, and a confiscation lawsuit was filed in a US court in March. The US received ownership on July 20.

Over the past year, CNN notes, the US Navy has seized thousands of Iranian assault rifles and more than a million rounds of ammunition from ships allegedly used by Iran to ship weapons to Yemen. The seizures, often carried out by regional partners, target small stateless vessels on routes historically used to smuggle weapons to Houthi rebels in Yemen.

In mid-January, the United States assisted French troops in seizing 3,000 assault rifles en route from Iran to Yemen, as well as 23 anti-tank guided missiles. Following the arrest, the United States took custody of the confiscated weapons.

This illegal weapons interception culminated a two-month period during which the United States and its partners seized a total of 5,000 weapons and 1.6 million rounds of ammunition, according to Central Command.

The transfer of captured Iranian weapons to Ukraine comes at a time when Western defense ministries have expressed concerns about their continued ability to arm Kyiv in its conflict against Russia.

“The bottom of the barrel is now visible,” Admiral Rob Bauer, the Dutch chairman of NATO’s military committee and the alliance’s most senior military official, said about the state of Western stockpiles at a conference in Warsaw on Tuesday, The Guardian recalls.