Washington, Oct. 5, (dpa/GNA) – The US government says it has sent ammunition seized from Iran to Ukraine, which is under attack from Russia.
The ammunition was originally seized by the US military on a ship in the Gulf of Oman in December 2022, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) and the US Department of Justice announced on Wednesday.
Iran was trying to send the approximately 1.1 million rounds to the Huthi rebels in Yemen, the Department of Justice said. This was in violation of a UN Security Council resolution. Consequently, the US declared the ammunition to be its property.
With this weapons transfer, the US government’s action against one authoritarian regime now directly supported Ukraine’s fight against another authoritarian regime, the US Department of Justice said.
“We will continue to use every legal authority at our disposal to support Ukraine in their fight for freedom, democracy, and the rule of law,” the department said in a statement.
The US has been supplying Ukraine with controversial cluster munitions for several months. US President Joe Biden said this was necessary because the US military lacked stocks of conventional munitions to send to Ukraine.
The United States is Ukraine’s most important ally in the defensive struggle against Russia and has provided billions of dollars in military aid over the past 19 months.
GNA