UN Security Council discloses secret details on Yemen arms smuggling gate
The Wall Street Journal, in a report, uncovered one of the arms smuggling routes from Iran to Yemen, the southern Iranian port of Jask, which the paper identified as a gateway for arms smuggling from Iran to the Houthis in Yemen and elsewhere.
UN Security Council Report
The newspaper cited a draft report prepared by a UN Security Council panel of experts, which confirmed that thousands of weapons seized by the US were en route to the Houthis in Yemen.
The Wall Street Journal said: “The weapons include thousands of rocket launchers, machine guns, sniper rifles, and other weapons seized by the U.S. Navy in the Arabian Sea in recent months, and originated from one port in Iran”.
Detailed guides
According to the newspaper, the confidential report provided some of the most detailed evidence of Iran’s export of these arms shipments to the Houthis in Yemen and elsewhere.
“Small wooden boats and ground transportation were used in attempts to smuggle weapons made in Russia, China, and Iran along routes to Yemen, which the U.S. military has tried to block for years”, the draft report said.
The UN report is based on interviews with Yemeni boat crews, and data from navigational aids found on the boats. All this data confirms that the boats departed from the Iranian port of Jask via the Sea of Oman.
Development of smuggling outlets
A senior US official said: “Iran has developed many ways to deliver weapons to Yemen and has never stopped”, he said, explaining that every time we make some new takeovers, Iran finds another way to transport weapons.
The Iranian regime has openly supported the Houthis in Yemen, as well as their attacks on Saudi Arabia and other Red Sea targets, for years.
From exporting vegetables to arms
The Wall Street Journal said the spokesman for Iran’s UN representation refused to comment on the matter for the time being.
The Jask port previously exported fruits and vegetables to Oman, the newspaper said. But lately it has grown and become strategically important.
In 2008, it hosted a naval base, and an oil export terminal opened there last year”, the report said.
According to the newspaper, US officials said: “The port of Jask was once used as a point for the Revolutionary Guards to send troops, but the UN report provides the first detailed guide on arms shipments and their export link to the port of Jask”.
