Iran in breach of arms embargo
▶ Assessors examined wreckage of missiles fired into Saudi by rebel forces
The United Nations has found that Iran breached an arms embargo by providing missiles and drones to Yemen’s Houthi rebels. A panel of assessors travelled to Saudi Arabia in November and last month and examined remnants of missiles fired by the Houthis. Some of the UN team’s findings have been obtained by media outlets and diplomats.
United Nations experts say Iran breached a UN arms embargo by directly or indirectly providing missiles and drones to Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The panel of assessors travelled to Saudi Arabia in November and last month and examined remnants of missiles fired by the Houthis.
The report, excerpts of which were obtained by news agencies and diplomats on Friday, said: “The panel has identified missile remnants related to military equipment and military unmanned aerial vehicles that are of Iranian origin, and were introduced into Yemen after the imposition of the targeted arms embargo” in 2015.
“As a result, the panel finds that the Islamic Republic of Iran is in non-compliance with paragraph 14 of Resolution 2216 in that it failed to take the necessary measures to prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of missile and unmanned aerial vehicles to the Houthi-Saleh alliance.”
Iran denies supplying the rebels with arms.
During a UN Security Council meeting on December 19, US ambassador Nikki Haley said that the launch of a ballistic missile by the Houthis that day was “a flashing red siren”.
Ms Haley said the US would push for action against Iran, but Russia signalled its opposition.
That missile attack had been aimed at a meeting of Saudi leaders in the capital, Riyadh, but was intercepted by the kingdom’s air defences.
A Saudi-led military coalition is fighting the Houthis in Yemen on behalf of the internationally recognised government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.
On Friday, a coalition air strike in the western coastal province of Hodeidah killed six senior Houthi commanders including Yehya Al Ayani, a close aide of Houthi leader Abdulmalik Al Houthi.
Twenty other Houthi fighters were killed in a battle further north along the coast on Friday when troops repelled an attempt to break a siege of rebel pockets around the city of Midi, in Hajja province, the army’s 5th military zone said.
Yemeni military spokesman Col Nasser Al Rydhami told The National that Al Ayani and the other commanders were killed in Al Khoukha district, where pro-government forces are pressing towards the rebel-held port of Hodeidah after seizing the area late last year.
Al Ayani was in the Houthi party that killed former president Ali Abdullah Saleh on December 4 after storming his home in Sanaa. He also served in the rebels’ rapid reaction force and on the northern border with Saudi Arabia, Al Arabiya news channel reported.
The Houthis killed Saleh after he broke off his alliance with them and called for talks with the Saudi-led coalition to end the war. They then launched a crackdown on his supporters, which has left hundreds killed or arrested.
Yesterday, several women were injured when Houthi security forces broke up protests against the crackdown and looting by the rebels in the capital.
The women had gathered Al Tahreer Square holding banners against the rebels, and demanding that they hand over Saleh’s body. The rebels reportedly buried the former president in his hometown days after killing, with fewer than 20 people present.
The demonstrators were attacked by the Houthi women’s police, known as Al Zaynabyat, with several arrested and taken to Al Gudairi police station in the old city, a source in Sanaa said.
The missile attack had been aimed at a group of Saudi leaders in Riyadh but was intercepted