It is believed that it came from Iran an American fleet confiscated a shipment of weapons from a ship in the Arabian Sea

The US Fifth Fleet has stated that it has confiscated an illegal shipment of weapons from a stateless fishing vessel, while the ship is believed to have originated in Iran, and that it crossed international waters via a route usually used to smuggle weapons illegally to the Houthi group in Yemen.

The US Fifth Fleet said on Wednesday that two of its coastal patrol ships seized an illegal arms shipment from a fishing vessel of unknown nationality on Monday during a flag verification operation in the northern Arabian Sea.

The fleet said in a statement that the shipment consisted of about 1,400 AK-47 rifles and 226,600 rounds of ammunition.

He added, "It was estimated that the stateless ship originated from Iran, and that it crossed international waters through a route usually used to smuggle weapons illegally to the Houthis in Yemen."

The direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of arms to the Yemeni Houthi group is a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and US sanctions.

The US Navy said that the ship's five crew members, who said they were Yemeni, would be sent back to Yemen, adding that the US Navy sank the ship after transferring the crew and the illegal cargo.

The guided-missile cruiser "Monterrey CG-61" confiscated dozens of advanced Russian-made anti-tank guided missiles, thousands of Chinese Type 56 rifles, hundreds of PKM machine guns, sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers from an unidentified ship in transit. North Arabian Sea in May.

A Saudi-led coalition has been battling Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement since early 2015 after the group ousted the internationally recognized government from Sanaa.

Saudi Arabia and Iran, regional rivals, began direct talks this year as world powers try to salvage the nuclear deal with Iran and UN-led efforts to end the war in Yemen falter.