Today, ambassadors sitting on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will be in Riyadh to inspect first hand debris from missiles fired by Al Houthi rebels at civilian targets in Saudi Arabia. But it is not Al Houthis who the UNSC envoys are interested in, but in who supplied these weapons. Make no mistake, the answer is plain and clear, just as plain for all to see as the initials of the Iranian arms manufacturer, Shahad Bagger Industries, forged onto aluminium and cast metal parts on the debris and shrapnel.
Al Houthis rebels are a sectarian clan who had spurned every offer of talks and overtures to address their issues after overthrowing the legitimate government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi of Yemen, and since then have been supported by the regime in Tehran and its Revolutionary Guards to further Iranian aims there. These clan fighters have been given guns and artillery by Tehran. And as the campaign progressed, so too has the level of sophistication in the material of war provided to the group from Tehran. How did a clan manage to get it hands on ballistic missiles, figure out how to fuel, launch and target them? The logistics of ballistic weaponry are immense, complicated and sophisticated — but Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are only too eager to teach the Al Houthis.
But what is all the more dangerous, and one that the UNSC envoys must deduce, is that Iran supplied these weapons at the same time as its own envoys were convincing the UNSC of the peaceful nature of its nuclear programme.
