Thousands of infantry weapons, along with thousands of rounds of ammunition, have been shipped to Ukraine, the U.S. military confirmed. The U.S. military previously seized the munitions as Iran was shipping it to supply Houthi terrorists more than a year ago.
The arms were sent last week as the latest military assistance by the Biden administration to Ukraine for its ongoing war effort with Russian forces after House Speaker Mike Johnson refused to call a vote on a $60 billion military aid package, blocking the Biden administration from providing further security assistance.
“On Apr. 4, 2024, the U.S. government transferred over 5,000 AK-47s, machine guns, sniper rifles, RPG-7s and over 500,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces. This constitutes enough materiel to equip one UKR BDE with small arms rifles,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement posted on social media platform X.
“The government obtained ownership of these munitions on December 1, 2023, through the Department of Justice’s civil forfeiture claims against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).”
Ukraine’s military recently announced it was running low on weapons and munitions, especially heavy artillery rounds. This has sparked efforts by the Biden administration to find alternative ways to arm Kyiv.
The armaments consisted of sufficient amounts to equip an entire Ukrainian brigade, typically comprised of up to 4,000 troops, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) went on to say in its statement, although the statement did not elaborate on the actual number.
According to CENTCOM, the munitions were originally seized by U.S. Central Command and partner naval forces from four separate transiting stateless vessels between May 2021 and February 2023.
The weapons were determined to be primarily of either Iranian, Chinese, or Russian origin.
CENTCOM also confirmed that the weapons were seized after being transferred from the IRGC to the Houthis in Yemen in a move that was in violation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2216.
“Civil forfeiture remains an important tool in our efforts to stop or disrupt terrorist organizations like the IRGC. Its use in this case demonstrates the power of our counter-threat financing actions to strip legal control of assets from bad actors,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia.
“We are proud to have been able to work with CENTCOM in this matter, and through them to further the efforts of partners like the Ukrainian armed forces in their fight to maintain freedom.”
“U.S. CENTCOM 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 U.S. and U.N. sanctions and through interdictions,” CENTCOM’s statement continued.
Iran has refuted the allegations about the origin of the seized armaments. Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations said, “We cannot comment on weapons and armaments that have never belonged to us.”
However, Iran has played an instrumental role in backing terrorist activities outside of its territory, specifically since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Since November, the Yemeni Houthi terrorist group has conducted frequent attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. Meanwhile, other Iranian-backed terrorist groups have initiated frequent attacks on IDF forces at the Israeli borders with Lebanon and Syria.
Reuters contributed to this article
