Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of supplying another missile to Houthi rebels

World Today

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted a missile over southern Riyadh, fired from Yemen. The Saudis blame Houthi rebels for such attacks, but said it’s Iran that’s supplying the weapons. The missile launch comes as the United Nations Security Council meets to discuss the Iran nuclear deal.

CGTN UN Correspondent Liling Tan reports.
Follow Liling Tan on Twitter @LilingTan

Saudi Arabia accused Iran on Tuesday of supplying Yemeni rebels with a ballistic missile launched the same day. The launch was the third reported since November.

Iran has denied supplying missiles to the Houthi rebels, and defended its commitment to the 2015 nuclear deal reached among world powers.

“It’s been two years since the nuclear deal. How many times have the Americans attempted to scrap the deal? How many times?” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani asked. “How many times within the past year have they tried? They haven’t succeeded to this day. In my opinion, they won’t be able to do it at last.”

Many Security Council members condemned the latest missile launch, but defended the nuclear deal, which has been heavily criticized by the Trump administration.

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley told the Security Council that the missile fired Tuesday by Houthi rebels bears all the hallmarks of previous attacks using Iranian-provided weapons, in violation of U.N. resolutions.

“We must not allow ourselves to be held hostage to the nuclear agreement or treat Iran any different than we would treat any other country violating a resolution,” Haley said. “Today, based on the U.N. report, we have an opportunity to confront the Iranian regime for its actions that are clearly in violation of security council resolutions.”

A Dec 8 U.N. report on Iran’s compliance showed that Tehran has continued to adhere to its nuclear-related commitments, but an investigation continues into its ballistic missile activities.