US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley presented what she called "undeniable" evidence Thursday (December 14th) that a ballistic missile fired by Houthi (Ansarallah) fighters in Yemen at Saudi Arabia last month was Iranian-made.
Haley accused Tehran of a "blatant violation" of UN Security Council obligations designed to rein in its missile activity, AFP reported.
Standing in a warehouse at a military base in front of recovered pieces of two missiles, Haley said Iranian fingerprints were all over the weapons, one of which she said was fired towards Riyadh's airport on November 4th.
"It was made in Iran then sent to Houthi militants in Yemen," Haley said. "From there it was fired at a civilian airport, with the potential to kill hundreds of innocent civilians in Saudi Arabia."
A confidential report to the Security Council says UN officials had examined debris from missiles fired at Saudi Arabia which pointed to a "common origin", but there was no firm conclusion that they came from an Iranian supplier.
Haley said the missiles were Iranian Qiam-class short-range ballistic rockets and pointed to valves that she said proved their origin.
"The evidence is undeniable. The weapons might as well have had 'Made in Iran' stickers all over it," Haley said.
Tehran immediately denied the charge.
