Yemeni minister denounces Iran's increased supply of weapons to the Houthis

 

Since the United Nations-backed ceasefire ended in October of last year, Iran has increased its weaponry smuggling to the Houthi group, according to Muammar Al-Eryani, Yemen's minister of information, culture, and tourism.

The minister cited a recent operation in which US and French forces worked together to stop an Iranian shipment of weapons that was travelling through the Gulf of Oman to Yemen.

According to prior reports, the ship was en route to the Houthi militia with 3,000 assault rifles, 20 anti-tank missiles, and over 500,000 rounds of ammo.

The US said in a statement that the operation was one of four significant interdictions over the previous two months that stopped the entry of more than 5,000 weapons and 1.6 million rounds of ammunition into Yemen.

Al-Eryani argued that Iran's role in undermining efforts by the international community to put an end to the war in Yemen and bring about peace has been made clear by the Yemeni security forces' seizure of 100 drone engines that were on their way to the Houthis via Shahn land port. This was the fifth such violation in as many months.

The militia in Iran has been fully empowered, he continued, and it "doesn't have power to decide on war and peace."

Al-Eryani charged that the Iranian government was violating international law in order to "export its own crises" and "cover up atrocities against the Iranian people."

He claimed that the dictatorship intended to "use its sectarian militias to foment unrest, terrorism, disrupt security and stability, and jeopardise energy security and global shipping lanes."

The minister urged the UN and members of the international community to combat Iran's illicit activities that jeopardise stability on a global and regional scale.