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US Navy Seizes Ammunition En Route from Iran to Yemen's Houthis

A handout photo released on December 3, 2022, by the US Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) shows a fishing trawler intercepted by the US Navy operating from expeditionary sea base USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB 3) in the Gulf of Oman. (Photo by DVIDS / AFP)
A handout photo released on December 3, 2022, by the US Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) shows a fishing trawler intercepted by the US Navy operating from expeditionary sea base USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB 3) in the Gulf of Oman. (Photo by DVIDS / AFP)
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US Navy Seizes Ammunition En Route from Iran to Yemen's Houthis

A handout photo released on December 3, 2022, by the US Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) shows a fishing trawler intercepted by the US Navy operating from expeditionary sea base USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB 3) in the Gulf of Oman. (Photo by DVIDS / AFP)
A handout photo released on December 3, 2022, by the US Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) shows a fishing trawler intercepted by the US Navy operating from expeditionary sea base USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB 3) in the Gulf of Oman. (Photo by DVIDS / AFP)

The US Navy's Fifth Fleet said on Saturday it had intercepted a fishing trawler smuggling "more than 50 tons of ammunition rounds, fuses and propellants for rockets" in the Gulf of Oman along a maritime route from Iran to Yemen on Dec. 1.

"Navy personnel operating from expeditionary sea base USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB 3) discovered the illicit cargo during a flag verification boarding, marking US 5th Fleet’s second major illegal weapons seizure within a month," it added in a statement.

"This significant interdiction clearly shows that Iran's unlawful transfer of lethal aid and destabilizing behavior continues," Vice Admiral Brad Cooper said.

"US naval forces remain focused on deterring and disrupting dangerous and irresponsible maritime activity in the region."

The fishing trawler intercepted on Thursday was carrying nearly 7,000 rocket fuses and "over 2,100 kilograms of propellant used to launch rocket propelled grenades", the statement said.

"The direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of weapons to the Houthis in Yemen violates UN Security Council Resolution 2216 and international law," it added.

Last month the US navy said it had scuttled a boat transporting "explosive materials" from Iran to supply the Houthis, with enough power to fuel a dozen ballistic rockets.

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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would travel to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by insurgents, and appealed on Europe to review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.
Tajani presided over a meeting in Rome on Thursday of foreign ministry officials from five countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.
Going into the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HT.
“The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That’s why I’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation,” Tajani said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to its sanctions on Syria. “It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.
Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the US, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.
HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.
The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian opposition leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.
Syria’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of insurgents.