Iran Violated Yemen Arms Embargo, U.N. Experts Say
12, 2018
A United Nations panel has concluded that Iran violated an arms embargo imposed on Yemen by failing to prevent the Houthi rebels in
that war-ravaged nation from obtaining Iranian missiles, including one fired hundreds of miles into Saudi Arabia two months ago.
The report came nearly a month after Nikki R. Haley, the American ambassador to the United Nations, showed reporters a display of recovered war debris, including missile pieces and drone fragments,
that she described as proof of Iranian complicity in arming the Houthis.
The findings, in a report given to the United Nations Security Council this week, could add weight to American and Saudi efforts to ostracize Iran with accusations
that the Iranians are engaged in destabilizing behavior in the Middle East.
There was no immediate comment from Iran on the United Nations report, which was prepared by
experts for a Council panel responsible for monitoring compliance with the arms embargo.
Saudi Arabia and the United States have long accused Iran of arming the Houthis in Yemen, the Arab world’s most impoverished country.
But by failing to keep such weapons out of Yemen, the report said, "the Islamic Republic of Iran is in noncompliance" with Resolution
2216, adopted nearly three years ago after the war between the Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed government in Yemen had begun.