WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A US warship seized a shipment of parts of Iranian guided missiles a week ago on its way to the Houthis in Yemen, US officials said on Wednesday.

The operation took place north of the Arabian Sea on Wednesday and was carried out by a US warship and a team of US Coast Guard forces, officials said.

They said it was the first time that such sophisticated parts were being held on their way to the Houthis. According to the same source, the seizure of sophisticated missile pieces is evidence of Iran's continued smuggling of weapons to the Houthis.

According to the American version, the guided missile destroyer, "Forrest Sherman," seized a small boat before it took over a detachment of the Coast Guard and found parts of the missiles.

US officials said the crew of the small boat had been moved to the Yemeni coastguard, and parts of the missiles were currently in US possession.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Washington Nasser al-Husseini said that it is not new for Americans who talk about the existence of a huge illegal arms trade on the Gulf coasts between Iran and Yemen, especially towards the Houthis.

He said the disclosure coincided with a meeting between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Portugal.

The revelation of the seizure of parts of missiles destined for the Houthis also comes at a time when the Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration wants to send 14,000 troops to the Middle East to confront Iran.

Al-Jazeera's Tehran bureau chief, Abdul Qader Fayez, said there was no official Iranian response to the US novel, but pointed out that Iranian media described it as an allegation and linked it to a meeting with Pompeo and Netanyahu.

Iran has repeatedly denied US charges of supplying missiles and drones to Yemen's Houthi group, while the Houthis say their arsenal of ballistic missiles and drones is a domestic industry.

The wreckage of a ballistic missile was shown last year in Washington and the Pentagon said it was made in Iran .

American warning
CNN quoted Pentagon and administration officials as warning them of a possible Iranian threat to US forces and interests in the Middle East.

A Pentagon official confirmed to the network that this intelligence has been repeated in recent weeks, and that it was collected last November through military and intelligence agencies.

The official said that it was noted the presence of movements of Iranian forces and weapons in recent weeks, raising Washington's fear of the possibility of using these weapons in a possible attack against it.