The United States is commending Yemen for seizing a ship loaded with Iranian-supplied weapons apparently headed for rebels in the north.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Saturday a Yemeni government investigation shows the weapons were loaded onto the vessel in Iran.
The U.S. Navy and Yemen's coast guard stopped the ship last month in the Arabian Sea. It was packed with weapons including portable anti-aircraft missiles, mortars, and rocket-propelled grenades.
The State Department says these weapons are clearly designed to cause significant damage and the highest possible number of casualties.
Nuland's statement Saturday also praised Yemen's request for a United Nations Security Council investigation into the incident, saying it shows Yemen is vigilant in countering threats to its sovereignty, its political transition, and regional stability. A U.N. investigation would determine where the shipment came from.
The State Department says the origin of the ship and its cargo underscores Iran's ongoing evasion of six U.N. Security Council resolutions banning Iran from selling weapons.