Yemen Demands US Turn Over Houthi-bound Seized Weapons, Not Give Them to Ukraine

The head of Yemen’s internationally recognized government called on the United States to provide the country’s military with seized Iranian weapons that were heading for the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Rashad Al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, over the weekend at the Munich Security Conference said the thousands of weapons should be turned over to his government’s army instead of providing them to Ukraine to defend itself against the Russian invasion, marking its first year this week. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the US is considering providing Ukraine with the seized weapons. Smuggled weapons reportedly seized in the Gulf of Oman over the past two months and prevented from reaching Yemen include more than 5,000 weapons and 1.6 million rounds of ammunition, according to US Central Command. Iran has denied involvement in sending the weapons to the Houthis, who have been at war with the internationally recognized government of Yemen backed by a Saudi-led coalition for nearly a decade, a months-long cease-fire expired in October 2022, despite efforts to renew it. A United Nations resolution bans arms transfers to the Iranian-backed Houthis rebels.