UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council will tra­­vel to Washington on Mon­day to inspect debris from mis­siles allegedly provided by Iran to Yemen’s Houthi reb­els and hold meetings at the White House, diplomats said.

The ambassadors are exp­e­­cted to meet with President Donald Trump as the US administration seeks international action against Iran, diplomats said.

US Ambassador Nikki Ha­l­ey last month presented the fragments as “undeniable” evidence that a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Hou­thi rebels at Saudi Ara­bia in Nov­ember was Iranian-made.

That claim was bolstered when a UN panel of experts concluded in a recent report to the council that Iran had violated the arms embargo on Yemen by failing to block supplies of missiles to the rebels.

Haley has invited her UN counterparts to see the missile debris stored in a warehouse at a Washington military base. “The evidence is undeniable. The weapons might as well have had ‘Made in Iran’ stickers all over it,” Haley told a press conference last month.

The “evidence” stored in Washington includes other pieces of military material allegedly provided by Iran including fragments of an anti-tank missile and drones.

Iran has strongly denied arming the Houthis and last month accused Haley of presenting “fabricated” evidence that the November 4 missile fired at Riyadh airport was Iranian-made.

Haley is seeking to persuade the Security Council to take action against Iran, possibly by imposing sanctions, but will likely face opposition from Russia, which has friendly ties with Tehran.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2018