US government transfers seized Iranian weapons to Ukraine | WION News

  

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US gifts Ukraine 1000s of Iran-seized weapons

The decision to send seized weapons comes on the backdrop of US’ inability to provide additional aid to Ukraine after Republican lawmakers blocked new funding. 

Ameya Paleja

Published: Apr 10, 2024 08:33 AM EST

Interesting Engineering

23 hours ago

US gifts Ukraine 1000s of Iran-seized guns, shells to shock Russia - Interesting Engineering

Interesting Engineering has previously reported how the coalition has provided advanced weapons, including drones and missiles, to aid Ukraine’s defense efforts. However, the recent tranche of weapons supplied on April 4 did not contain any US-made advanced weapons. 

Weapons seized from Iran

According to the social media post, earlier this month, the US supplied 5,000 AK-47s, machine guns, sniper rifles, RPG-7s, and over 500,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces.

• The CENTCOM post said the large number of weapons and ammunition is sufficient to arm one brigade of Ukrainian forces against the Russian forces.

Additionally, the US military clarified that these arms were seized from four separate transiting vessels by CENTCOM and its partner naval forces. The seizures occurred between May 2021 and February 2023. The four vessels were stateless but were transporting weapons from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to the Houthi rebels in Yemen, in violation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2216.
The US gained ownership of these weapons through the Department of Justice’s civil forfeiture claims, the social media post added.

US – an unreliable partner? 

Interestingly, this is not the first time the US has made such a transfer of weapons. In October last year, the US supplied 1.1 million rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition to Ukraine. This ammunition was also seized while it was on its way to Yemen, AFP said in its report. 

The US military has been forced to supply seized weapons and ammunition to Ukraine following the Congressional impasse on a US$60 billion package to help Kyiv purchase artillery and air defense supplies. The funding has been stuck since last year after Republican lawmakers stalled its approval. 

Lloyd Austin, the US Defense Secretary, told a Senate hearing this week that delays in providing support showed that Washington was not living up to its commitment to Kyiv and this would encourage America’s adversaries. 

“It would be a signal that the United States is an unreliable partner, and that would encourage and embolden autocrats around the globe to do the types of things that Putin has done,” Austin said at the hearing.

Last month, the US announced a $300 million assistance package for Kyiv, including anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons and artillery shells, following the Congressional impasse over the larger funding support. The AFP report added that money for this package has come from savings the Pentagon made previously on defense purchases. 

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