For the first time… Britain provides evidence to the United Nations of Iran supplying advanced weapons to the Houthi
Britain says it has for the first time provided evidence that Iran is supplying the Houthis with advanced weaponry in Yemen, after photographs of tests conducted at the Revolutionary Guard’s headquarters in Tehran were found on the hard disk of a drone seized by the British Royal Navy.
Finding Evidence
According to VOA, personnel from the British HMS Montrose seized a drone along with a shipment of missiles and missile parts in February last year when they stopped and searched a number of fast-moving boats in the Gulf of Oman.
The UK Ministry of Defense said that weapons and other evidence were presented to the UN that they link Iran to violations of UN Security Council resolutions banning arms shipments to the Houthis.
Submission of evidence to the United Nations
“This is the first time we have been able to present evidence to the UN that points to a direct link between the Iranian state and the supply of these weapons,” a UK defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with ministry policy, told VOA.
The UN has banned arms transfers to the Houthis since 2014, when the Houthis took over the capital Sana’a, where Iran has long denied arming the Houthi militia.
The British Ministry said: The commercial Quadcopter captured by the Royal Navy is designed for reconnaissance flights.
Investigators were also able to decode data on the plane’s internal memory, which was not cleared, the ministry said, adding that this was where they discovered records of 22 experimental flights conducted at the Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Command headquarters in western Tehran.
The drone was in the same shipment of a number of surface-to-air missiles and components for ground-launched cruise missiles from the Iranian Project 351.
Iran involvement
The discovery adds to a growing body of evidence of Iranian involvement in the conflict in Yemen, which has generated one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, the paper reported.
Iranian weapons under surveillance
“Western countries, UN experts and others track Houthi weapons ranging from night-vision goggles, rifles and rockets to Tehran.”
“Most recently, in the Gulf of Oman in January, French naval forces seized thousands of assault rifles, machine guns, and anti-tank missiles from Iran bound for the Houthis.”
In November, the U.S. Navy announced that it had found 70 tons of missile fuel hidden in fertilizer bags on a ship sailing to Yemen from Iran.
Iranian Recklessness
“Once again, the Iranian regime’s reckless proliferation of weapons and destabilizing activity in the region have been exposed. The arms embargo has intensified the conflict and undermined UN-led peace efforts,” said British Minister of State for the Middle East Tariq Ahmed.
