Iran shipping arms to Houthi rebels since 2009, reveals UN report

[Sally]

Did anyone think that Iran wasn't involved with the Houtis?

Iran shipping arms to Houthi rebels since 2009, reveals UN report

(AFP) / 1 May 2015

The panel of experts reported on the findings of an investigation into the 2013 seizure by Yemeni authorities of an Iranian ship, the Jihan, that was carrying weapons.


New York — Iran has been shipping weapons to Yemen’s Houthi rebels since at least 2009, according to a confidential UN report, indicating that Tehran’s support dates back to the early years of the Shia militia’s insurgency.

The report by a panel of experts was presented to the Security Council’s Iran sanctions committee last week as the United Nations seeks to broker an end to the Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen and a return to peace talks.

The panel of experts reported on the findings of an investigation into the 2013 seizure by Yemeni authorities of an Iranian ship, the Jihan, that was carrying weapons.

Continue reading at:

Iran shipping arms to Houthi rebels since 2009 reveals UN report - Khaleej Times

 

[Mr. H.]

And why not? Who's going to stop them? Obama?

 

[irosie91]

It turns out that Iran has been very active in Yemen for many years------COOKING UP A PLAN ----taking advantage of the Shiite minority there (houthis) who were actually a kind of semi oppressed and impoverished group ------but NOW THEY ARE ARMED -------and planting more HEZBOLLAH persons there. There is
INTENSE hatred over there against them by the sunni majority-----but the Shiites are growing stronger and
stronger in numbers and-----more importantly, in ARMAMENTS -------<<<<does not look good

 

[Sunni Man]

Did anyone think that Iran wasn't involved with the Houtis?

Iran shipping arms to Houthi rebels since 2009, reveals UN report

(AFP) / 1 May 2015

The panel of experts reported on the findings of an investigation into the 2013 seizure by Yemeni authorities of an Iranian ship, the Jihan, that was carrying weapons.


New York — Iran has been shipping weapons to Yemen’s Houthi rebels since at least 2009, according to a confidential UN report, indicating that Tehran’s support dates back to the early years of the Shia militia’s insurgency.

The report by a panel of experts was presented to the Security Council’s Iran sanctions committee last week as the United Nations seeks to broker an end to the Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen and a return to peace talks.

The panel of experts reported on the findings of an investigation into the 2013 seizure by Yemeni authorities of an Iranian ship, the Jihan, that was carrying weapons.

Continue reading at:

Iran shipping arms to Houthi rebels since 2009 reveals UN report - Khaleej Times

Oh dear!! .......

 

[waltky]

Saudis, Iran `bout to get into it...

Saudis intercept ballistic missile intended for airport
Nov. 4, 2017 -- Saudi Arabia intercepted a missile Saturday over northeast Riyadh that Yemen's air force said was intended for the capital's airport.

Yemen's rebel-controlled Defense Ministry said in a statement the operation using a Yemeni-made, long-range ballistic missile called the Burqan 2H was successful because the attack "shook the Saudi capital." The Scud-type missile has a range of around 500 miles, a spokesman told Al Jazeera.

Smoke could be seen in images rising from an area near Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport. "We previously warned that capitals of countries attacking Yemen will not be safe from our ballistic missiles," Mohammed Abdul Salam, spokesman for the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, said. "Today's missile attack comes in response to Saudi killing innocent Yemeni civilians." On Wednesday, at least 26 civilians died and dozens were injured in an airstrike in northwestern Yemen that Houthi rebels said was carried out by a Saudi-led coalition.

King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, which includes a mosque, was the target of a Scud-type missile, Yemen's rebel-controlled air force said, but Saudi Arabia intercepted the missile in an uninhabited area.​

Saudi Col. Turki al-Maliki said at 20:07 p.m. a ballistic missile was fired from Yemeni territory toward the kingdom but Saudi forces used a surface-to-air Patriot missile to destroy the missile in an uninhabited area east of the airport, according to the official Saudi news agency, SPA. In 2014, Houthi rebels seized control of the capital Sanaa and began pushing south toward the country's third-biggest city, Aden.

One year later, Saudi Arabia and a coalition of Sunni Arab states launched a massive air campaign aimed at reinstalling President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government. More than 10,000 people have died and at least 40,000 wounded, mostly from Saudi-led air strikes. "The Saudis started the war. Our response will continue and increase, whether it's targeting deep inside Saudi Arabia, targeting military positions where Saudi jets fly from or military bases inside Yemeni territory," Abdul Salam said to Al Jazeera earlier this month.

Saudis intercept ballistic missile intended for airport

See also:

Saudi Arabia: Houthi militia's attempted attack 'an act of war' by Iran
Nov. 6, 2017 -- Saudi Arabia is calling an intercepted missile attack aimed at Riyadh from the Houthi militia an act of aggression by Iran.

The Sunni-majority country is blaming the Iranian-backed Houthi for the attack, while Iran is denying ever arming the militia group with weapons. "We have no possibility to transfer missiles to Yemen," Ali Jafari, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Commander General Mohammad, said. "These are their own missiles with improved range."

Saudi Arabia, however, claims that the missile launch could amount to an act of war and that the country has a right to defend itself against Iran and the Houthi militia. "Saudi Arabia also has a right to respond to Iran at the appropriate time and manner, supported by international law and in accordance with its inherent right to defend its territory, its people and its interests protected by all international conventions," a statement from the Saudi-backed Arab Coalition said.

A Yemeni child in front of an alleged Saudi-led airstrike site, a day after Houthi rebels fired a ballistic missile at the Riyadh.​

Saudi Arabia has continued to blame Iran for arming Houthi rebels with ballistic missiles, launchers, explosive-laden drones and sea mines. Iran has noted that Saudi Arabia's allegations are "destructive, irresponsible, provocative and baseless" and said that Yemen rebels showed an "independent" reaction to Saudi attacks. The proxy war has gone on since 2014 when the Houthi militia took control of the capital Sanaa and began to seize more power in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia launched a force against the group and essentially against Iran by forming its own massive air campaign. Mostly Saudi-led airstrikes have led to more than 10,000 dead and 40,000 wounded. "Today's missile attack comes in response to Saudi killing innocent Yemeni civilians," Mohammad Abdul Salam, a spokesman for the Houthi said of the missile launch.

Saudi Arabia: Houthi militia's attempted attack 'an act of war' by Iran

Related:

Saudi-led forces close air, sea and land access to Yemen
November 6, 2017 - The Saudi-led military coalition fighting against the Houthi movement in Yemen said on Monday it would close all air, land and sea ports to the Arabian Peninsula country to stem the flow of arms to the Houthis from Iran.

The move, which follows the interception of a missile fired toward the Saudi capital Riyadh on Saturday, is likely to worsen a humanitarian crisis in Yemen that according to the United Nations has pushed some seven million people to the brink of famine and left nearly 900,000 infected with cholera. “The Coalition Forces Command decided to temporarily close all Yemeni air, sea and land ports,” the coalition said in a statement on the Saudi state news agency SPA. It said aid workers and humanitarian supplies would continue to be able to access and exit Yemen. The United Nations, however, said it was not given approval for two scheduled humanitarian flights on Monday and was seeking clarification on the coalition’s announcement.

The state news agency Saba, run by the Houthis, quoted a source in the navy warning against the closure of ports and said it would have, “catastrophic consequences”. The United Nations and international aid organizations have repeatedly criticized the coalition for blocking aid access, especially to north Yemen, which is held by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement battling the Saudi-led coalition. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies have made clear they view Iran as mainly responsible for the Yemen conflict, in which more than 10,000 people have been killed in the past two years.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on his Twitter account on Monday that Riyadh reserved the right to respond to what he called Iran’s “hostile actions”. Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa also tweeted that Iran was the real danger to the region. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Saudi Arabia was blaming Tehran for the consequences of its own “wars of aggression”. On Sunday the coalition accused the Houthis of “dangerous escalation (that) came because of Iranian support” after Saudi air defences intercepted the ballistic missile heading toward Riyadh. It was brought down near Riyadh airport without causing casualties.

“WAR CRIMES”

Iran rejected the criticism as “destructive and provocative”. Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi “referred to the war crimes and aggression of the Saudis during the past years and said the reaction by Yemenis is an independent reaction ... and not a move caused by another country’s action or incitement”, a ministry statement said.

Saudi-led forces close air, sea and land access to Yemen

 

[Bleipriester]

The blockade did not last for long:
Breaking: Saudi Coalition lifts blockade on Yemen

 

[Bleipriester]

Lifting the blockade was a joke, the siege remains, millions could die, UN does nothing.

Yemen under siege: Millions face starvation as Saudi Coalition refuses to reopen vital port

 

[waltky]

Iranian-proxy Houthis shootin' missiles at Saudi Arabia...

Saudis Intercept Another Ballistic Missile From Yemen, Days After US Accused Iran of Supplying Them
December 20, 2017 | Days after the Trump administration presented what it said was evidence of Iran’s hand behind ballistic missile attacks targeting Saudi Arabia, the kingdom on Tuesday shot down another incoming projectile fired by Iranian-backed militias in Yemen.

The missile attack, which the Shi’ite Houthi militia said on social media was aimed at Yamama Palace – the seat of the Saudi government in Riyadh, prompted a torrent of condemnations from across the Arab world, directed at the Houthis but also at Iran. Saudi Arabia and Iran are locked in a fierce rivalry, played out especially in the civil wars in Yemen and Syria. In its southern neighbor Yemen, the Saudis are leading a coalition in a costly and controversial air campaign supporting the country’s internationally-recognized government in its fight against the Shi’ite militia. A coalition spokesman, Col. Turki Al-Malki, said the Saudi military’s U.S.-supplied Patriot air defense system shot down the missile south of the capital, causing no casualties or damage. “This hostile and indiscriminate act by the Iran-back Houthi armed group proves the continued involvement of the Iranian regime in supporting Houthi armed group with qualitative capabilities” in defiance of U.N. resolutions,” the official Saudi Press Agency quoted al-Malki as saying.

He said firing ballistic missiles at residential areas violates international humanitarian law. Al-Malki said the incident provided further evidence that Iranian missiles are being smuggled into Yemen for use by the Houthis, and called on the international community to take “serious and effective steps” to hold Iran accountable. The nearest Houthi-held territory in Yemen is around 550 miles from Riyadh. Condemnation Tuesday came from the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and Arab states including Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco. Among the first to condemn the incident was Saudi Arabia’s key ally in the conflict with Iran, the United Arab Emirates, which said in a statement that “this cowardly attack draws attention to the dangerous and negative role played by Iran in supporting the coup militia, and its insistence on continuing its hostile practices by providing the Houthi terrorist group with ballistic missiles that threaten peace and security in the region.”

A Patriot ground-based missile defense system deployed in south-western Saudi Arabia. The Saudis on Tuesday shot down a ballistic missile fired from Yemen and heading for the capital, Riyadh.​

The Houthis last December claimed to have fired a missile towards a nuclear power plant in the UAE although the Emirati government denied that any missile had reached its territory. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert on Tuesday condemned the attack, saying the U.S. was “deeply disturbed by aggressive Houthi actions supported by Iran’s provision of advanced weapons, which threaten regional security and prolong the Yemen conflict.” The United States calls on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to stop arming and enabling the Houthis’ violent actions against Yemen’s neighbors, including Saudi Arabia,” she said. Early last month the Saudis intercepted a missile headed for its second-busiest international airport, also in Riyadh, and warned at the time that Iran’s alleged provision of the missiles to the Houthis could rise to “an act of war.

Last November the Saudis shot down another missile launched from Yemen, over the south-western portion of the kingdom. The Trump administration has stepped up efforts to garner international support for tougher action against Iran for its ballistic missile and other activities in the region. Last Thursday, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley held a press briefing and presentation of evidence provided by the Saudi government, including fragments of the missile shot down near the airport which Haley said bore Iran’s “fingerprints.” Haley noted that the intercepted missile had been heading for an international civilian airport “through which tens of thousands of passengers travel each day.” “Just imagine if this missile had been launched at Dulles Airport or JFK, or the airports in Paris, London, or Berlin,” she said. “That’s what we’re talking about here. That’s what Iran is actively supporting.”

‘Ridiculous’

See also:

Haley: Iran Claims to be Putting Out Fires in the Region, But Iran is ‘The Arsonist’
December 15, 2017 | In line with its pledge to confront Iran over activities beyond its nuclear program, the Trump administration on Thursday unveiled what it said was evidence that Iran supplied Shi’ite rebels in Yemen with a missile that last month targeted Riyadh’s international airport – “through which tens of thousands of passengers travel each day.”

Speaking in front of debris of a missile at a military installation in south-west Washington, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley accused Iran not just of supplying that projectile to Houthi rebels, but of a pattern of dangerous behavior that extended to Lebanon, Iraq and Syria. “It’s hard to find a conflict or a terrorist group in the Middle East that does not have Iran’s fingerprints all over it,” she told reporters. Haley took aim at Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who in a New York Times op-ed published Sunday likened the regime’s actions in the region to putting out fires lit by “unhinged” arsonists. “But the United Nations just released a new report that tells the opposite story,” she said. “It tells the story of Iran as the arsonist. The report shows the Tehran regime not putting out fires, but fanning the flames of conflict in the region.”

The report in question is the secretary-general’s periodic report on Iran’s compliance – or lack of it, Haley observed – with the 2015 U.N. Security Council resolution that endorsed the Iran nuclear deal. On November 4, the Saudi military said it had intercepted a ballistic missile heading for the King Khaled International Airport near Riyadh – the kingdom’s second-busiest – and accused Iran of responsibility. The Saudis, who lead a controversial military campaign in support of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, said Iran’s alleged provision of missiles to the Houthis amounted to aggression and even arguably “an act of war.”

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley speaks to reporters in front of missile debris, at the Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington DC​

Haley said missile debris displayed at Thursday’s briefing had been loaned from the Saudi and Emirati governments, and that she was inviting members of the U.N. Security Council and the U.S. Congress to inspect it. She pointed to features of the missile which she said were identified only with Iran’s Qiam missile – “essentially Iranian missile fingerprints” – as well as debris stamped with the logo of U.S.- and U.N.-sanctioned Iranian missile manufacturer, Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group. “This evidence is part of what has led the U.S. intelligence community to conclude, unequivocally, that these weapons were supplied by the Iranian regime,” she said. “The evidence is undeniable. The weapons might as well have had ‘Made in Iran’ stickers all over it.”

Haley emphasized that the missile had targeted an international civilian airport. “Just imagine if this missile had been launched at Dulles Airport or JFK, or the airports in Paris, London, or Berlin. That’s what we’re talking about here. That’s what Iran is actively supporting.” Haley called the incident “absolutely terrifying.”

‘Iran believes they have been given a pass’