The Royal Navy frigate HMS Lancaster seized weapons from a boat suspected of smuggling Dehlavieh anti-tank missiles and ballistic missile components in the Gulf. HMS Lancaster's 42 Commando, on a routine maritime security patrol in the area, pounced on a speed boat after scrambling its Wildcat helicopter to track the vessel darting through international waters.
The boat was heading south from Iran, and the smugglers tried to avoid the 815 Naval Air Squadron helicopter by ignoring every radio call to stop, instead steering their craft into Iranian territorial waters.The weapons were checked by Royal Navy bomb disposal and ordnance specialists to ensure their safety before being returned to Lancaster for inspection.
A US fixed-wing intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platform detected the suspected smuggling vessel travelling at high speed in international waters in the Gulf of Oman.The vessel was then tracked by the Wildcat helicopter from HMS Lancaster.According to the Ministry of Defence, the smugglers initially ignored Royal Navy hailed and attempted to navigate to Iranian territorial waters before being apprehended.Following international law, a team of Royal Marines stopped and boarded the ship, discovering suspicious packages that were recovered from HMS Lancaster.
According to the initial inspection, the packages contained anti-tank guided missiles (Iranian versions of the Russian 9M133 Kornet, known in Iran as "Dehlavieh") and medium-range ballistic missile components.
Following UN Security Council Resolutions 2216 and 2231, the United Nations has been informed of the seizure and invited to conduct its inspection of the material. This latest seizure follows the Royal Navy"s attack on two Iranian advanced conventional weapons in the region in early 2022.
