The US Navy says it has seized a weapons shipment in the Arabian Sea from Iran likely heading to war-torn Yemen.

The USS Sirocco intercepted and seized the shipment of weapons hidden aboard a small dhow last week.A statement confirmed that the dhow's crew were released after sailors confiscated the arms.

The Navy said the shipment included 1,500 Kalashnikov assault rifles, 200 rocket-propelled grenade launchers and 21 .50-caliber machine guns.

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The Navy said the shipment included 1,500 Kalashnikov assault rifles, 200 rocket-propelled grenade launchers and 21 .50-caliber machine guns

Officials have linked similar weapons seizures to Iran and the Shiite rebels, though the rebels deny receiving support from the Islamic Republic

A Saudi-led, US-backed coalition has been fighting in Yemen against Shiite rebels and their allies there since last year.

Officials have linked similar weapons seizures to Iran and the Shiite rebels, though the rebels deny receiving support from the Islamic Republic.

The news comes after Yemen's President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi relieved prime minister and vice president Khaled Bahah of his duties yesterday due to what he called government 'failures'.

Bahah's surprise dismissal comes just a week ahead of a UN-brokered ceasefire planned between Yemen's warring parties, which is expected to pave the way for peace talks in Kuwait on April 18.

Hadi appointed Ahmed bin Dagher, former secretary general of the General People's Congress party to which the president once belonged, as prime minister, according to a decision published on the official sabanew.net website.

Dozens of rifles and bullets were uncovered aboard the small dhow in the Arabian Sea

A Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition has been fighting in Yemen against Shiite rebels and their allies there since last year

Adding to the unrest, the local militiamen who fought alongside the government to retake Aden from the rebels last summer have clashed with guards protecting the presidential palace to protest unpaid wages

Bahah's government has 'failed to ease the suffering of our people, resolve their problems and provide their needs,' Hadi said in a statement

He appointed veteran General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar as vice president, and a presidency source said that Bahah would now serve as a presidential advisor.

Hadi said the decision to replace Bahah was 'due to the failures that have accompanied the performance of the government during the past period in the fields of economy, services, and security'.

Bahah's government has 'failed to ease the suffering of our people, resolve their problems and provide their needs,' Hadi said in a statement.

Iran-backed rebels have been in control of capital Sanaa since 2014, forcing the government to declare second-city Aden as temporary capital.

But Hadi and many government officials, including Bahah, spend most of their time in Riyadh as they struggle to secure Aden and other parts of the country where Sunni jihadists have gained ground.

Adding to the unrest, the local militiamen who fought alongside the government to retake Aden from the rebels last summer have clashed with guards protecting the presidential palace to protest unpaid wages despite Hadi's orders to merge them with the security forces.

Hadi spoke of a 'lack of a proper government administration of the unlimited support from our brothers in the Arab coalition, notably Saudi Arabia' which is leading an alliance against the rebels.

The USS Sirocco intercepted and seized the shipment of weapons hidden aboard a small dhow last week.A statement confirmed that the dhow's crew were released after sailors confiscated the arms

The news comes after Yemen's President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi relieved prime minister and vice president Khaled Bahah of his duties yesterday due to what he called government 'failures'

Hadi spoke of a 'lack of a proper government administration of the unlimited support from our brothers in the Arab coalition, notably Saudi Arabia' which is leading an alliance against the rebels