"There is no question when you start passing MANPADS
around, that becomes a threat, not just to military aircraft but to civilian
aircraft," Panetta told the newspaper in an interview. "That is an
escalation."
MANPADS are shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. Western
officials have worried about the spread of such weapons and the risk they pose
to airline passengers as well as to military helicopters and jets.
Yemeni
forces intercepted a ship on January 23 carrying a large cache of weapons -
including surface-to-air missiles - that U.S. officials suspect were being
smuggled from Iran and destined for Yemeni insurgents.
"It is one of the
first times we have seen it," Panetta said, referring to the seizure of
MANPADS.
A Defense Department spokesman was not immediately available for
comment on Panetta's remarks to the paper.
Yemen's government said the
arms intercepted aboard the ship off the country's coast also included
military-grade explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and bomb-making
equipment.
Iran denies any interference in Yemen's
affairs.
Panetta said the United States was stepping up efforts to
counter the Iranian threat, and was leading a multinational exercise in the
United Arab Emirates through Thursday to improve the interdiction of Iranian
arms and other weapons.
He called the exercise critical to building up
Arab capabilities to help halt Iranian arms transfers, including the smuggling
of MANPADS.
US officials have said the anti-aircraft weapons intercepted
on January 23 likely were headed to northern Yemen's Houthi separatists, who are
fighting the US-backed government in Sanaa and have also clashed with Saudi
forces.
Panetta is preparing to step down as defense secretary after 19
months in the job.
The Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on
Thursday on the nomination of former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel to succeed
Panetta.
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