MANAMA: The US Navy said Saturday it had seized one million rounds of ammunition along with rocket fuses and propellant being smuggled on a fishing trawler from Iran to war-torn Yemen.

The cargo was discovered on Thursday “during a flag verification boarding”, the Bahrain-based United States Fifth Fleet said in a statement, noting it was the “second major illegal weapons seizure within a month” along the maritime route.

“This significant interdiction clearly shows that Iran’s unlawful transfer of lethal aid and destabilising behaviour continues,” Vice Admiral Brad Cooper said.

The Iran-backed Huthi rebels seized the Yemeni capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene the following year. Since then, a grinding war has killed hundreds of thousands and pushed the impoverished nation to the brink of famine.