The recent U.S. seizure of suspected Iranian guided missile parts headed to rebels in Yemen highlights Iran’s continued far-reaching involvement in the war-torn country, experts say.
U.S. officials said earlier this month that a U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard boarding team seized a small boat in the northern Arabian Sea that was carrying sophisticated weapons to Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen.
Iran has not commented on the seizure, but the country has in the past denied sending weapons to Houthi rebels.
Some experts believe the incident shows Iran’s escalating efforts to defy international obligations and to destabilize Yemen and the broader region.
“This is one additional piece of evidence that Iran continues to violate multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions in exporting arms, which it’s not allowed to do,” said James Phillips, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington.