DThe US government says it has sent thousands of seized machine guns from Iran to Russia-attacked Ukraine. The weapons were seized by the US military and allied forces on four unflagged ships in the Arabian Sea between 2021 and 2023, the US Department of Justice said on Tuesday. The ships were on their way from Iran to Yemen.
Around 5,000 AK-47 assault rifles, sniper rifles and machine guns as well as around 500,000 rounds of ammunition were secured, it said. According to the Justice Department, Iran planned to send the weapons to Houthi rebels in Yemen, in violation of a UN Security Council resolution. The USA consequently declared the ammunition to be its property.
“With this arms transfer, the United States government is disrupting Iran’s destabilizing efforts and supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s brutal, unprovoked invasion,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. The U.S. government has previously provided Ukraine with ammunition seized from Iran.
Cameron appeals to the US for help for Ukraine
In view of almost daily calls for help from Ukraine for weapons aid in the fight against the Russian war of aggression, Great Britain's Foreign Minister David Cameron has now appealed to the USA for support for the country. “If we give the Ukrainians the support they deserve, they can win this war,” he said Tuesday. Cameron reported that he had also planned various meetings with representatives and senators from the US Congress. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj once again appealed to the West to finally send weapons and ammunition.
Cameron said he came as a friend of the United States and firmly believed that continued support for Kiev was in America's own security interests. “I come here with no intention of lecturing anyone, telling anyone what to do, or interfering in the political process and other matters of the United States,” the British foreign minister stressed.
The United States has been Kiev's most important ally in the past two years since the start of the war, supplying weapons and ammunition on a massive scale. However, there has been no supply from the USA for quite some time. The background is a domestic political blockage in the US Congress, where Republicans – driven by former President Donald Trump – are currently refusing further aid to Kiev. Cameron also met with Trump during his visit to the USA.
Zelenskyj is once again calling for more weapons aid from the West
Zelenskyj once again complained about the lack of arms support from the West. “Our partners have certain weapons that we need today to survive. And I just don't understand why we don't get these weapons,” said Zelensky, who was in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, in an interview with the “Bild” newspaper and other Axel Springer media (“Welt”, Politico, Business Insider and Onet). He had recently repeatedly called for more anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.