---
title: "The Navy just seized a bunch of Iranian missiles from a boat in the Arabian Sea"
description: "A Navy guided missile cruiser uncovered a huge stockpile of heavy weaponry on Sunday when it boarded a stateless dhow (a traditional Arab sailing vessel) in the Arabian Sea that was chockfull of surface-to-air-missiles and anti-tank missiles intended for Houthi rebels in Yemen."
date: "2020-02-13"
modified: "2020-02-13"
authors:
  - name: "David Roza"
    job_title: "YouTube Writer/Editor"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/david-roza/"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/navy-seizes-heavy-weapons-dhow/"
categories:
  - "Around the World"
  - "Iran"
  - "Military Branches"
  - "Missiles"
  - "Navy"
  - "News"
  - "Tech & Tactics"
  - "Weapons"
tags:
  - "central command"
---

# The Navy just seized a bunch of Iranian missiles from a boat in the Arabian Sea

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/22739005-1.jpg>)

A Navy guided missile cruiser uncovered a huge stockpile of heavy weaponry on Sunday when it boarded a stateless dhow (a traditional Arab sailing vessel) in the Arabian Sea that was chock full of surface-to-air-missiles and anti-tank missiles intended for Houthi rebels in Yemen.

According to a statement released by U.S. Central Command on Thursday, the weapons discovered by the USS Normandy included 150 'Dehlavieh' anti-tank guided missiles, which are Iranian-manufactured copies of Russian Kornet ATGMs.

There were also three Iranian surface-to-air missiles, Iranian thermal imaging weapon scopes, Iranian components for unmanned aerial and surface vessels, and other munitions and advanced weapons parts.

CENTCOM said the haul was similar to a seizure of advanced weapons made in November by the guided missile destroyer USS Forrest Sherman, which also occurred in the Arabian Sea. Those weapons were also Iranian and bound for the Houthis, a Yemeni Shiite group that is fighting Saudi Arabia in what many see as [a proxy war with Iran](<https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2017/12/18/who-are-the-houthis-and-why-are-we-at-war-with-them/>).

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/image-placeholder-title-3424.jpg>)

An image of the dhow boarded by U.S. sailors on Sunday (Navy photo / Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Michael H. Lehman)

Supplying the Houthis with weapons is illegal according to a United Nations Security Resolution, CENTCOM said. The seized weapons are now in U.S. custody, awaiting final disposition by interagency and international partners, the command said.

At the time of the boarding, the Normandy had been conducing routine maritime security patrols in the U.S. Fifth Fleet area of operations, CENTCOM said.

## Author
David Roza writes scripts about military news for the Task & Purpose YouTube channel, and he also writes articles about military pay, benefits, health care, child care, culture, and other personnel topics on a freelance basis.

Roza previously covered the Air Force and Space Force for Task & Purpose from 2019 to 2023 and for Air & Space Forces Magazine from 2023 to 2025. In the course of that reporting, he has set off a ‘Hollywood explosion’ with Air Force bomb techs, turned the (unarmed) keys of a nuclear missile bunker, hovered over the Nevada desert on an Air Force rescue helicopter, and got the best sleep of his life on the floor of a C-17 over the central Pacific.

Share tips and story ideas with David at [david.roza@teamrecurrent.io](<mailto:david.roza@teamrecurrent.io>)