The U.S. Navy stopped a fishing boat attempting to smuggle over 2,000 AK-47s from Iran to Yemen, according to the Navy Forces Central Command.

The Friday incident occurred in the international waters of the Gulf of Oman when the patrol coastal ship USS Chinook boarded and seized the weapons with the assistance of other naval vessels.

“This shipment is part of a continued pattern of destabilizing activity from Iran,” said Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces.

“These threats have our attention. We remain vigilant in detecting any maritime activity that impedes freedom of navigation or compromises regional security,” he added.

The transfer of weapons to Houthi rebels in Yemen violates U.N. Security Council Resolution 2216 and international law, the Navy reported. The transfer of the vessel and six crew members is in progress.

The apprehension marks the third recent fishing vessel intercepted attempting to provide lethal aid from Iran to Yemen through the Gulf of Oman, according to the Navy.

On December 1, naval forces seized more than 50 tons of ammunition rounds, fuses, and propellants for rockets. On November 8, naval forces and a U.S. Coast Guard vessel stopped a boat carrying over 70 tons of ammonium perchlorate, a substance the Navy called “a powerful oxidizer commonly used to make rocket and missile fuel,” seized alongside 100 tons of urea fertilizer.

The Houthis are a rebel group fighting a long-time civil war against Yemen’s recognized government. It has also been called a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia, as the Saudis support the national government.

Iran has long supported the Houthis, a Zaydi Shiite movement in conflict with Yemen’s government since 2004. The group began in the 1990s in north Yemen as a reaction to Saudi financial influence. The group seized Yemen’s capital Sanaa in 2014 and parts of northern Yemen in 2016.

Saudi Arabia has opposed the group, with Houthi forces initiating attacks on Saudi soil on numerous occasions. The tensions are also religiously motivated, as the Houthis and Iran’s government are Shiite Muslims in conflict with Saudi Arabia’s Sunni Muslim majority.

A six-month ceasefire in the Yemen war concluded in October 2022. More than 150,000 people have been killed in the longtime conflict, including 14,500 civilians.

Last month, the European Union challenged the Houthis to end its armed conflict and work with the U.N. to resolve the crisis.

“The EU urges the Houthis to abandon maximalist positions and engage constructively with the UNSE Grundberg,” the statement said. “The Council also stresses the utmost importance of reinstating and further extending the truce.”

The EU “commends the constructive approach of the Yemeni government during the truce and ongoing efforts by regional actors, notably by Saudi Arabia and also Oman, on the extension of the truce,” the statement added.

Two members of the House of Representatives are urging ESPN to drop TikTok after the social media platform sponsored halftime shows during recent college football bowl games broadcast on the sports television network.

Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) sent a letter to ESPN CEO James Pitaro on Monday.

“The U.S. government considers TikTok a national security threat because it is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, which is subject to the direction of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),” the House members wrote.

“We are concerned that despite these widely known issues with the app, ESPN has allowed TikTok to sponsor NCAA bowl game halftime shows,” they added.

The letter requested answers about what vetting procedures ESPN uses when reviewing potential corporate sponsors of its programming.

Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi asked if ESPN was “aware that TikTok is, through ByteDance, effectively controlled by the CCP and that the U.S. government has determined that it is a national security threat?”

The lawmakers concluded by challenging ESPN to commit to ending its commercial relationship with TikTok, ByteDance, and other Chinese companies determined by the U.S. government to pose national security threats.

TikTok is one of the most popular social media apps in the U.S., with more than 100 million users. The national security concerns, however, have led to a growing number of restrictions and bans from lawmakers.

At least 15 states have banned the download and use of TikTok on state-issued devices over data privacy and national security concerns. Both New Jersey and Ohio joined the growing movement over the past week, showing that the anxiety is held by states led by Republican and Democratic governors.

Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said in his executive order, “these surreptitious data privacy and cybersecurity practices pose national and local security and cybersecurity threats to users of these applications and platforms and the devices storing the applications and platforms.”

In addition, the app was banned on devices issued by the federal government as part of the $1.7 trillion spending passed in December. The “No TikTok on Government Devices Act” was introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) in the Senate.

“TikTok is a Trojan Horse for the Chinese Communist Party. It’s a major security risk to the United States, and until it is forced to sever ties with China completely, it has no place on government devices,” Hawley said in a statement in December. “States across the U.S. are banning TikTok on government devices. It’s time for Joe Biden and the Democrats to help do the same.”

The Daily Wire reported that Seattle Public School District officials filed a lawsuit on Friday against social media platform owners, including TikTok, for fueling a youth mental health crisis.

The lawsuit argued that students experiencing mental health issues perform worse in school and are less likely to attend class, which “directly affects Seattle Public School’s ability to fulfill its educational mission.”