KSA urges UN to stop smuggling of Iran arms to Houthis

United Nations — Saudi Arabia has urged the United Nations Security Council to put an end to the smuggling of Iranian weapons to militias in Yemen as it constitutes a violation of Resolution 2216. In a letter addressed to New Zealand, who takes over the Council’s presidency, Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Abdallah Al-Mouallimi listed the number of violations to the resolution including cross-border militia rocket attacks by Houthis and the forces of ousted Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh. “On Aug. 31 2016, Houthi rebel militias and their supporters fired a ballistic missile of the type “ZilZal-3” (“Earthquake-3”) at the city of Najran, in the south of Saudi Arabia. Rocket “ZilZal-3” is a short range ballistic missile produced in Iran,” the letter said. The ballistic missiles fired from Yemen have resulted in the killing of hundreds of civilians and damage to infrastructure, including schools and hospitals in Najran, Jazan and Assir region. Mouallimi also mentioned how the smuggling of weapons did not only pose a violation to Security Council resolutions but also threatened the stability of Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the wider region as a whole. “We further urge he Security Council to take all necessary measures to demand that Iran complies with all the relevant Security Council resolutions, cease and desist from any illegal actions in Yemen,” Mouallimi added.