by Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff
Pentagon displays weapons it says are Iranian munitions sent to Iranian-backed fighters in Yemen and Afghanistan • Iran denies supplying Houthi rebels with weapons
A U.S. Defense Department exhibition of Iranian ballistic
missiles in Washington
Photo: Reuters
The United States
on Thursday displayed items it said were Iranian weapons deployed to
militants in Yemen and Afghanistan, part of an effort by President
Donald Trump's administration to pressure Iran to curb its regional
activities.
The Pentagon's presentation of the
hardware, much of which was handed over by Saudi Arabia, coincides with
growing concern in Congress over U.S. military support for the Saudi-led
coalition in Yemen's civil war, which has led to a deep humanitarian
crisis.
Members of Congress have escalated their
opposition to Saudi Arabia after the October killing of Saudi journalist
Jamal Khashoggi. Despite administration pleas not to downgrade ties
with the Saudis and thereby counter Iran, the Senate voted on Wednesday
to advance a resolution to end military support for the Saudis in Yemen.
If Iran is found to be shipping arms to
Yemen, Afghanistan and other countries, it would constitute a violation
of U.N. resolutions.
"We want there to be no doubt across the
world that this is a priority for the United States and that it's in
international interest to address it," said Katie Wheelbarger, the
principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for international
security affairs.
The presentation, the second of its kind in
the last year, is part of a government-wide effort to take a harder
line toward Iran.
Iran has denied supplying the Houthis in
Yemen with such weaponry and described the Pentagon's previous arms
display as "fabricated."
The Pentagon offered a detailed explanation
of why it believed the arms on display came from Iran, pointing out
what it said were Iranian corporate logos on arms fragments and the
unique designs of Iranian weaponry.
The U.S. acknowledged that it had not been
able to determine precisely when the weapons were transferred to the
Houthis, and, in some cases, could not say when they were used. There
was no immediate way to independently verify where the weapons were made
or employed, it said.
This included a Sayyad-2 surface-to-air
missile that the Pentagon said had been intercepted by the Saudi
government in early 2018 on the way to Houthi militants in Yemen.
As evidence of Iranian ownership, the
Pentagon cited a corporate logo of an Iranian defense firm in the
warhead section, which was not displayed, and writing in Farsi on the
missile.
A U.S. defense official, speaking on the
condition of anonymity, acknowledged that the Pentagon did not know if
the Houthis had actually used this type of missile before.
The Houthis, who control Yemen's capital
Sanaa, have fired dozens of missiles into Saudi Arabia in recent months,
part of a three-year proxy battle between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Under a U.N. resolution, Iran is prohibited
from supplying, selling or transferring weapons outside the country
unless approved by the Security Council. A separate U.N. resolution on
Yemen bans the supply of weapons to Houthi leaders.
It was unclear what impact, if any, such
public displays of weaponry would have on Iran, U.S. allies and
militants in the region.
A short-range missile on display was fired
just five days after U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley
held a similar presentation last year.
"I haven't heard anybody say this is a
political stunt," U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Brian Hook told a news
conference on Thursday, after being asked whether the weapons display
was done for propaganda reasons.
"This is simply putting out in broad daylight Iran's missiles and small arms and rockets and UAVs and drones," he said.
Hook said that while the U.S. has the
military option on the table, the preference is to use diplomatic
efforts to deal with Iran.
The U.S. has also long accused Iran of providing weapons to Taliban militants in Afghanistan.
The Pentagon on Thursday displayed a number
of Fajr rockets that it said had been provided to the Taliban. It said
they were Iranian because of the unique markings on the rockets and
their paint scheme.
The Taliban is known to buy weapons on the
black market and defense officials could not say why they were sure
these missiles and other weapons had not simply been bought.
Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/2018/11/30/us-says-it-will-not-hesitate-to-act-against-iranian-weapons-violations/
Follow Middle East and Terrorism on Twitter
No comments:
Post a Comment