The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has lodged a complaint with the United ‎Nations Security Council last night on the violations committed by Iran of UN ‎Security Council Resolution 2216 regarding Yemen.‎

The letter of protest, the Kingdom’s UN Ambassador Abdullah Al-‎Muallami urged the council to take all necessary measures to demand that ‎Iran complies with UN resolutions and stop its illegal action in Yemen.  ‎The ambassador also urged the Council to reaffirm the Kingdom’s right to ‎take whatever actions are necessary to protect its territory from pro-Iran ‎Houthi militias and forces loyal to deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh.‎

Ambassador Al-Muallami said the Kingdom was subject to attacks ‎launched by Houthi militias and forces loyal to Saleh.‎

The attacks included firing of about 30 ballistic missiles into the Kingdom’s ‎southern provinces of Najran, Jazan and Assir, resulting in the death and ‎wounding of hundreds of civilians and causing damage to civil ‎infrastructure, including schools and hospitals.‎

Ambassador Al-Muallami said at least one Iranian-made Zilzal 3 ballistic ‎missile was launched into Najran on August 31, 2016.‎

Ambassador Al-Muallami said the Houthis and forces loyal to Yemen's ‎former president “must be held accountable for their continued ‎irresponsible and criminal behavior.”‎

The ambassador accused Iran of supplying Houthi militias with weapons in ‎clear violation of Security Council Resolution 2216 (2015) and cited several ‎examples of the seizure of Iranian weapons shipments by international naval forces ‎operating in the Arabian Sea seized shipments of illegal which originated in Iran and was bound for ‎Houthi militias.‎

Ambassador Al-Muallami referred to a statement by the US Naval Forces ‎Central Command/5th Fleet on April 4, 2016 which said that US, ‎Australian and French navies seized large shipments of illegal weapons.‎

The Ambassador said the intercepted weapons included Iranian-made anti-‎tank missiles, thousands of automatic assault rifles, Dragonov sniper rifles, rocket-‎propelled grenade launchers and other associated equipment. 
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Ambassador Al-Muallami said that the trafficking of illicit weapons to ‎Houthi militias and forces loyal to Saleh are only a violation of the UN ‎Security Council resolutions, but also a real direct threat to the security of ‎the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the region as well as the world ‎peace and security.‎

He added that the Kingdom reaffirms its right to take appropriate measures ‎to confront the threats posed by the Houthis and Saleh forces who are ‎financed by Iran and that it would spare no effort to protect its security and ‎integrity and that of Yemen and the region in accordance with the UN ‎Charter and international law.‎

He went on to say that the Houthis and Saleh should be held responsible of ‎their criminal and irresponsible behavior as silence would only encourage ‎them to commit more violations that would pose threats to the security and ‎safety of the people of Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the region.  Furthermore, ‎it would undermine the legitimacy of UN Security Council resolutions and ‎increase derailing the political settlement of the crisis in Yemen.‎

Ambassador Al-Muallami said the Kingdom is calling upon the Security ‎Council to shoulder its responsibility and take the appropriate and ‎necessary measures against those who dare to foil the political transition ‎process in Yemen and against those who breach the Security Council ‎resolutions pertinent to the Resolution 2216 which was adopted by the ‎Council under Chapter 7.‎

The ambassador urged the Security Council to take the necessary action to ‎compel Iran to commit itself to all Security Council resolutions and stop and ‎desist from any illegal act in Yemen.‎

He reiterated Saudi Arabia’s support for the important work done by the ‎UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, for the sake of ‎reaching a comprehensive political solution to the crisis in Yemen based on relevant UN Security ‎Council resolutions and consistent with the framework of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Initiative and the outputs of the National ‎Dialogue Conference.