UAE expresses deep concern over reports about Iranian arm shipments

The United Arab Emirates is alarmed and deeply concerned by ongoing reports regarding Iranian shipments of weapons to the Houthi militia in Yemen, said Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations.

''Such activity would be a flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolutions 2216 (2015) and 2231 (2015), and the UAE calls on the Security Council to take all measures necessary to demand that Iran comply with its obligations. These shipments are further evidence of Iran’s expansionist and destabilising behaviour in Yemen, fuelling the conflict and endangering Yemeni civilians and Yemen’s neighbours,'' said Ambassador Nusseibeh in a statement on Wednesday.

''Furthermore, the UAE believes that Iranian arms shipments are undermining the important work of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, to reach a comprehensive agreement to end the conflict in Yemen, in accordance with the initiative of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the outcome of the National Dialogue Conference and its implementation mechanism, and the relevant Security Council resolutions,'' she added.

''The UAE shares the Special Envoy’s concern, expressed on Tuesday, over the unilateral declaration of a government by Ansar Allah and the General People’s Congress, which is only the latest manifestation of how ongoing arms shipments by Iran are instrumental to prolonging the conflict,'' she concluded.