UNITED NATIONS: UN experts who travelled to Saudi Arabia to inspect fragments of a missile fired from Yemen last month have found a possible link to an Iranian manufacturer, according to a confidential document seen by AFP on Friday.
Saudi Arabia and the United States have accused Iran of supplying weapons to Al Houthis who fired a missile intercepted near Riyadh airport on November 4.
Weapons supplies to Al Houthis would be in violation of a UN arms embargo on Yemen and of a ban on weapons sales by Iran.
The UN panel of experts travelled to Riyadh last month to inspect the components of missiles fired in May, July and more recently on November 4 and reported to the Security Council on their findings.
The panel wrote that a component recovered from the impact point of the November 4 missile attack was “marked with a logo similar to that of the Sahid Begheri Industrial Group” which is “a subsidiary of the Iranian Aerospace Industries Organisation.”
In a letter sent to Iran on November 24, the panel requested information on the individuals and companies to which the Sahid Begheri Industrial Group exported the missile component.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley last month called for international action against Iran over the missile attacks from Yemen against Saudi Arabia, which Riyadh has described as a “direct aggression”.
Haley cited information supplied by Saudi Arabia showing that a missile fired in July was an Iranian Qiam and that this weapon was not present in Yemen before the conflict.
