UN Panel: Iran Has Been Sending Weapons to Houthis Since 2009

According to AFP, a confidential report from a UN expert panel has been seen, addressing the issue of arms shipments from Iran to the Houthis in Yemen, at least since 2009. This report was submitted last week to the UN Security Council's Iran sanctions committee. On April 29, AFP reported that the expert panel's report includes findings from investigations regarding an Iranian ship seized by Yemen in 2013. That year, Yemen announced after examining the cargo of a ship carrying 'military weapons' that it was 'sent by Iran for the rebels in that country,' stating it contained 'nearly 40 tons of weapons' that could endanger 'millions of Yemeni citizens.' At that time, Mohammad Khazaei, Iran's representative to the UN, wrote in a letter to the rotating president of the Security Council that 'the seized ship in Yemeni waters does not belong to the Islamic Republic of Iran but is registered in a European country.' This was not the first time Yemeni officials had reported the seizure of an Iranian ship. In 2009, the same year referenced in the expert panel's report, a local official in Yemen told international news agencies that 'an Iranian ship carrying weapons, reportedly sent for the Shia rebels in the north of the country, was seized along with its crew in the Red Sea near the Gulf of Aden.' The seized ship in 2009 dates back to when Ali Abdullah Saleh was the president of Yemen. He, whose supporters are now considered allies of the Houthis, stated in 2009: 'These (Shia rebels) are insurgents and terrorists who receive money from foreign forces... Their financial resources come from some Iranian officials... but we do not accuse their government.' One example from the UN expert panel's report refers to a fishing vessel that attempted to 'secretly deliver hundreds of anti-tank and anti-helicopter missiles' to the Yemeni rebels. According to AFP, 'subsequent investigations have shown that Iran was the main source of the shipments, and the recipients were the Houthis in Yemen or perhaps in some cases other recipients in the region.' The report mentions several other instances of arms shipments involving Iranian vessels, five of which, according to the panel, were for Yemen. Iran has consistently denied involvement in Yemen's affairs. However, Iranian officials do not hide their support for the Shia Houthis in that country.