CENTCOM announced that on 6 January it had interdicted “a stateless dhow in the Gulf of Oman smuggling more than 2,000 AK-47 assault rifles while transiting international waters from Iran to Yemen”. A senior commander contended that “this shipment is part of a continued pattern of destabilising activity from Iran… These threats have our attention. We remain vigilant in detecting any maritime activity that threatens freedom or compromises regional security”.