UNITED NATIONS: Saudi Arabia accused Iran of supplying weapons to Shia rebels in Yemen and urged the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Tehran for violating an arms embargo.

Saudi Ambassador Abdal­lah Al-Mouallimi said in a letter to the council obtained late on Saturday that the smuggling of arms to Houthi rebels violates council resolutions and constitutes “a direct and tangible threat” to Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the region and international peace.

In Yemen, a Saudi-led coalition backing the internationally recognised government launched a bombing campaign in March 2015 against Iranian-backed rebels known as Houthis who are allied with army units loyal to a former president.

Bombing by the US-backed coalition, comprising nine Arab nations, has pushed the Houthis out of southern Yemen but they still control the capital, Sanaa, which they seized in 2014.

Published in Dawn September 19th, 2016