U.S. Navy intercepts ‘massive’ shipment of explosive material in Gulf of Oman

The U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet said on Tuesday it had intercepted a fishing vessel smuggling “massive” amounts of explosive material while transiting from Iran along a route in the Gulf of Oman that has been used to traffic weapons to Yemen’s Houthi group.

U.S. forces found over 70 tonnes of ammonium perchlorate which is commonly used to make rocket and missile fuel as well as explosives, the Fifth Fleet said in a statement.

A Saudi-led military coalition battling the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen since 2015 has repeatedly accused Iran of supplying the group with weapons, a charge Tehran denies.