Britain's Royal Navy said on Thursday it had seized Iranian weapons, including anti-tank guided missiles, last month from a smugglers vessel in international waters in the Gulf of Oman.
The boat was heading from Iran likely to Yemen.
Britain said the vessel was detected traveling south from Iran at high speed during the hours of darkness by an unmanned US intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance plane, and was also tracked by a British helicopter.
When hailed by the Royal Navy, the vessel initially attempted to navigate to Iranian territorial waters but was stopped by a team of Royal Marines, who then boarded the small boat and recovered the suspicious packages, Britain's Ministry of Defense said.
"This seizure by HMS Lancaster and the permanent presence of the Royal Navy in the Gulf region supports our commitment to uphold international law and tackle activity that threatens peace and security around the world," British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement.
Inside the boat, British troops found Russian 9M133 Kornet anti-tank guided missiles, known in Iran as “Dehlavieh,” the US Navy's Mideast-based 5th Fleet and the British navy said. Those weapons have been seen in other seizures suspected to be from Iran and bound for Yemen.
Also on board were small fins that the US Navy identified as jet vanes for medium-range ballistic missiles.
Britain said that it had informed the United Nations about the seizure. A UN resolution bans arms transfers to Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militias.
The Feb. 23 raid follows two previous Royal Navy seizures of Iranian weapons in the region early last year.
