At a United Nations Security Council briefing on Yemen, U.S. Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs Robert Wood condemned the Houthis’ recent attacks on Israel that killed one person and injured several more.
“These actions unequivocally demonstrate the growing threat to international peace and security posed by the Houthis and their backers in Tehran. And these are not isolated incidents. In recent months, the Houthis have launched approximately 200 missiles and drones toward Israel, with no apparent regard for civilian lives,” he said.
The Houthis and their allies claim the attacks on Israel and the ongoing campaign against commercial and merchant vessels in the Red Sea region are acts of solidarity with the people of Gaza. “The reality,” Ambassador Wood said, “is straightforward:”
“[T]he Houthis are terrorists, desperate to distract from their own record of catastrophic failures in Yemen. ... The only appropriate response is to condemn these attacks and demand that they stop. Immediately and without conditions.”
It may soon be time for the U.N. Security Council to consider additional actions to respond to the growing threats from the Houthis, said Ambassador Wood. “Equally crucial,” he declared, “is addressing Iran’s role in these and other attacks and holding Iran to account.”
“We can all see plainly and clearly that the Houthis are fully enabled by Iran to launch long-range and deadly attacks on Israel and other countries in the region. Indeed, initial assessments indicate the drone used in the July 19 attack on Tel Aviv was an Iranian-made Samad-3 UAV,” he said. “There is no disputing that Iran’s provision of these and other lethal weapons to Houthi terrorists violates this Council’s resolutions, including, most notably, the arms embargo established by Resolution 2216.”
“Any [Security] Council member that stands in the way of holding the Houthis and Iran accountable is complicit in undermining the credibility of this Council’s resolutions,” said Ambassador Wood.
After the Houthi attack on Tel Aviv, Israel struck several sites in Yemen’s port city of Hudaydah. Ambassador Wood said the resulting destruction “is but the latest example of how Yemenis are paying a price for Houthi and Iranian actions.”
“[I]t is imperative that we all work to reduce tensions,” said Ambassador Wood. “The best way to do that is by ensuring that this Council speaks with one voice to condemn the Houthis’ actions and hold them accountable.”
