Saudi complains to UNSC about Iranian violations

Saudi Arabia has lodged a complaint with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) calling for the international body to put an end to the smuggling of Iranian weapons to militias in Yemen as it constitutes a violation of UNSC Resolution 2216.

Saudi reaffirmed its right to take appropriate measures to confront threats posed by the Houthi rebels who are aligned to Iran and in an alliance with former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

According to the Al Arabiya news agency, the Gulf kingdom’s Ambassador to the UN, Abdullah Al-Mouallimi, sent a letter addressed to New Zealand, the UNSC’s current president, making clear the number of violations to the resolution including rocket attacks launched by the Houthis and militias under the command of Saleh.

“On August 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. [The rocket] ‘ZilZal-3’ is a short range ballistic missile produced in Iran,” Al Arabiya quoted the letter as saying.

Al-Mouallimi also mentioned how Iranian smuggling of weapons was not only a violation of UNSC resolutions, but also a threat to the stability of Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the wider region as a whole.

“We further urge the 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,” Al-Mouallimi added.

By allying with the Shia Houthis that he once waged war against, Saleh has been fighting to regain power at the expense of the Yemeni government under President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, casting Yemen into a civil war. Saudi Arabia launched “Operation Decisive Storm” last year to shore up Hadi, fearing that his collapse would lead to pro-Iran Houthi control of Yemen.