More Iranian weapons found in Yemen, UN says in report

More Iran-made weapons have been found in Yemen, the UN said in a report that was scheduled for discussion yesterday by the Security Council.

The US and Gulf states accuse Iran of supporting Houthi rebels in Yemen – and have waged a military campaign there since 2015 to stop the spread of Tehran’s influence in the war-torn country.

Iran openly supports the rebels politically, but denies supplying them with arms.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’s office said that his staff had examined two container launch units for anti-tank guided missiles recovered by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

“The secretariat found that they had characteristics of Iranian manufacture,” the UN report said. “The secretariat also examined a partly disassembled surface-to-air missile seized by the Saudi-led coalition and observed that its features appeared to be consistent with those of an Iranian missile,” it claimed.

Investigations into the origin of the weapons continues, the report stated.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was expected to attend yesterday’s meeting.

Mr Guterres’s report mainly addressed Iran’s obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal it struck with six major powers.

America pulled out of the accord in May and has reimposed sanctions on Iran. The report concluded that Iran continues to abide by the nuclear accord, under which it won sanctions relief in exchange for limiting its nuclear programme.

The UN has said in the past that the Houthis fired Iranmade missiles at Saudi Arabia. But it said it could not be certain that these were supplied by Iran, in what would be a breach of UN resolutions.