Haley: It's Time for the Security Council to Act on Iran

Nikki Haley, the U.S. representative to the United Nations, on Thursday, February 15, called on the Security Council to take action regarding Iran, citing a UN report on violations of the arms embargo in Yemen. UN experts say that the Islamic Republic has violated UN sanctions prohibiting the supply of weapons to Houthi forces and their allies. On Friday, January 12, the Associated Press reported, based on sections of the UN experts' report and statements from diplomats, that Iran has provided missiles and unmanned military aircraft to its supported Houthi fighters in Yemen, in violation of UN sanctions. Iran has confirmed its support for the Houthis but has repeatedly denied transferring weapons to them. Now, the French news agency quotes Ms. Haley as saying, 'It is time for the Security Council to act,' and Tehran must 'face the consequences' of its actions. In an official statement released for this purpose, Nikki Haley said, 'This [UN] report says what we have been saying for months: Iran has illegally transferred weapons and violated several Security Council resolutions.' According to the U.S. ambassador to the UN, the world must not allow 'blatant violations [of resolutions] to go unanswered.' Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, have denied supplying weapons to the Shiite Houthis in Yemen and have accused Nikki Haley of presenting 'false and fabricated' evidence. The U.S. ambassador to the UN presented remnants of a missile as 'undeniable evidence' supporting the claim that a missile fired by the Houthis at Saudi Arabia in November was made in Iran. According to this U.S. official, the missile bore the emblem of the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group and its specifications matched those of Iranian missiles. In response to Ms. Haley's remarks, Mohammad Javad Zarif announced that a complaint regarding what he termed 'the new U.S. accusation' against Iran would be submitted to the United Nations. The French news agency reported on Friday, February 16, citing 'several diplomats,' that the act of violating resolutions by Iran is likely to be included in a new draft resolution. According to this news agency, this new resolution is expected to be presented in the UN Security Council later this month. However, it remains unclear whether Russia, which has close cooperation with Iran in Syria, will support any sanctions against Tehran at the UN or prefer to use its veto power to support Iran. Last month, Russia expressed doubts about the findings of the UN experts' report.