U.S. Officials Meet Gulf Allies Amid Sharp Increase In Vessels Carrying Iranian Arms To Houthis

(New York, N.Y.) — The Biden administration has dispatched to Riyadh a delegation of senior leaders from the Departments of State and Defense for meetings with regional allies under the auspices of the U.S.-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Meetings focused on integrated air, and missile defense and maritime security were scheduled “at the explicit request of the GCC” members, which face attacks from ballistic and cruise missile attacks and explosives-laden drones from the Houthis, an Iranian-backed and armed religious and political movement in Yemen.  

In recent months, the U.S. has intercepted a wide range of matériel bound for the Houthis. In November, CNN reported that the U.S. Navy had intercepted a vessel carrying more than 70 tons of ammonium perchlorate and 100 tons of urea fertilizer. In December, the U.S. announced it had intercepted 50 tons of ammunition, fuses, and propellants for rockets. In January, the U.S. Navy intercepted a vessel carrying more than 2,000 AK-47 assault rifles.

In the past, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force have successfully transferred Sayyad 2C surface-to-air missile, guided anti-ship missiles, Qiam-1 ballistic missiles, kamikaze aerial drones, landmines, Kalashnikov variant rifles, RPG-7 and RPG-7v rocket-propelled grenade launchers, machine guns, AK-47 assault rifles, precision rifles, and anti-tank missiles to the Houthis.

To read United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI)’s resource Houthis, please click here.  

Examinations of wreckage from missiles and drones used by the Houthis have shown that Iran uses commercial products in their manufacture. In response, UANI has contacted dozens of companies around the world whose products were identified in the wreckage, urging them to take immediate steps to ensure its products are not being sold or ending up in Iran, including the termination of all relevant distribution and supply networks and other contracts and obligations, whether directly or through third-party agents.  

Iran’s provision of ballistic missiles, weaponized drones, and related technologies to the Houthis is a violation of U.N. Security Council Resolutions 2231. In response, the U.S. and its European allies should reimpose all pre-JCPOA U.N. sanctions and restrictions on Iran through the “snapback” mechanism; employ counterproliferation and counterterrorism authorities to unilaterally expand sanctions against individuals and entities that support or enable Iran’s missile program; and enhance its detection and interdiction capabilities on land transit routes in the Levant and sea lanes used for missile proliferation, among other steps.

To read UANI’s resource JCPOA Sunset Alert: Missile Restrictions, please click here. 

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