DUBAI: French naval forces seized thousands of assault rifles, machine guns and anti-tank missiles earlier this month in the Gulf of Oman coming from Iran heading to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, officials said Thursday amid the Mideast nation’s long-running war. While Iran did not immediately acknowledge the seizure, images of the weapons released by the US military’s Central Command showed them to be similar to others captured by American forces. The seizure occurred Jan 15 in the Gulf of Oman. US Central Command described the interdiction as happening “along routes historically used to traffic weapons unlawfully from Iran to Yemen.” Central Command said the seizure included more than 3,000 rifles and 578,000 rounds of ammunition. The French military did not respond to requests for comment about the weapons.