Report: Iranian arms sent to Yemen via Somalia

A newly-released report by independent research group Conflict Armament Research (CAR) “suggests” that there is an arms “pipeline” that extends from Iran to Somalia and Yemen.

The UK-based CAR released its analysis Wednesday, after US officials claimed in October that they had seized five shipments of Iranian weapons bound for Yemen.

“CAR’s analysis of the seized materiel … suggests the existence of a weapon pipeline extending from Iran to Somalia and Yemen, which involves the transfer, by dhow, of significant quantities of Iranian-manufactured weapons and weapons that plausibly derive from Iranian stockpiles,” the report said.

CAR also said in its report that after analysis of the caches of anti-tank missiles, rocket launchers and other light and small arms from the dhows that were heading to Somalia, they believe the arms were “probably supplied with the complicity of Iranian security forces.”

Iran has denied US and Gulf claims that it supplies Houthi militias with arms, saying its support to the Houthis is merely diplomatic.

Meanwhile, the UAE ambassador to the UN, Lana Nusseibeh, said CAR’s findings “would be a flagrant violation of UN security council resolutions,” according to the Abu Dhabi-based The National.

“The UAE calls on the Security Council to take all measures necessary to demand that Iran comply with its obligations,” she added. “These shipments are further evidence of Iran’s expansionist and destabilizing behavior in Yemen, fueling the conflict and endangering Yemeni civilians and Yemen’s neighbors.”