USCENTCOM
- 2 Navy SEALs went missing overboard during an operation in the Red Sea last Thursday.
- They were helping seize Iranian warheads for missiles being sent to the Houthis, per CENTCOM.
- "We are conducting an exhaustive search for our missing teammates," CENTCOM's commander said.
The two Navy SEALs who went missing off the coast of Somalia last week were helping seize Iranian weapons bound for the Houthis, the US said in a statement on Tuesday.
US Central Command, or CENTCOM, detailed the military operation that took place last Thursday near the coast of Somalia.
The Navy SEALs carried out a "complex boarding" of a dhow, and were operating out of the USS Lewis B. Puller and assisted by helicopters and unmanned aerial drones, per CENTCOM.
According to the statement, the boat in question was performing illegal shipments of weapons from Iran to restock Houthi fighters in Yemen.
Among the weapons seized were propulsion, guidance, and warheads for medium-range ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles, as well as air defense-associated components, it said.
Two Navy SEALs were lost at sea during the operation, CENTCOM said, although it did not offer specifics about what happened during the incident.
According to earlier reports, citing unnamed US officials, the pair were climbing aboard a vessel when high waves knocked one into the water. The second SEAL then jumped in as part of Navy SEAL protocol to help a comrade in danger. Both vanished.
General Michael Erik Kurilla, CENTCOM's commander, said in the latest statement: "We are conducting an exhaustive search for our missing teammates."
According to CENTCOM, the boarded dhow was declared hazardous and sank by US Navy personnel, with the fate of the 14 crew members to be decided in compliance with international law.
"This is the first seizure of lethal, Iranian-supplied advanced conventional weapons (ACW) to the Houthis since the beginning of Houthi attacks against merchant ships in November 2023," the statement read.
It added that the mission constituted the first seizure of advanced Iranian-manufactured ballistic missile and cruise missile components by the US Navy since November 2019.
It also said that preliminary analysis indicates that the Houthis have been using these types of weapons to intimidate and assault sailors aboard commercial ships in the Red Sea.
Kurilla said that this is a "clear" indication that "Iran continues shipment of advanced lethal aid to the Houthis" and "yet another example of how Iran actively sows instability throughout the region in direct violation of U.N. Security Resolution 2216 and international law."
He added: "We will continue to work with regional and international partners to expose and interdict these efforts, and ultimately to reestablish freedom of navigation."
The fate of the missing SEALs is unclear. On Monday, experts told BI that their chance of survival after so long is doubtful but that their world-class training in water survival gives them a better shot than most.