United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikky Haley will unveil evidence that Iran is providing missiles to Houthi rebels in Yemen. That move is a threat to Saudi Arabia, which is a key ally of the United States in the region.
According to four unnamed officials, Haley will display components of a short-range ballistic missile that Houthi rebels fired into Saudi Arabia at Defense Intelligence Agency headquarters at Joint Base Anacostia-Boling in Washingon. NBC News reports that Haley is expected to present other evidence of Iran’s weapons proliferation and potential violations of UN sanctions, and of Iranian destabilization and threats to U.S. allies.
The ballistic missile was fired from Yemen several weeks ago and it struck near King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. Saudi defense forces said that they shot it down and turned it to shrapnel. The attack prompted Riyadh to tighten its blockade on Yemen. Five days after the attack, Saudi officials blamed Iran for the attack.
“We hold Iran responsible for this.They’re the ones that provided the missiles. We believe this could be considered an act of war,” said Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.
Iranian officials hit back and said that Riyadh’s claims of Iranian responsibility for the missile attack were malicious, irresponsible, destructive and provocative.
A photo described as an image of remnants of the missile was published by Arab media, but Saudi mission to the UN said that Saudi government was not the source of the photo.
After the missile attack, a UN team was sent to Saudi Arabia to investigate claims by Riyadh that missiles fired into its territory originate from Iran and investigators said that the missiles had similar structural and manufacturing features which suggest a common origin.
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