UN faces rival drafts on Iranian missiles to Yemen

UNITED NATIONS, United States: The UN Security Council on Sunday was considering two draft resolutions on Yemen after Russia put forward a rival text aimed at blocking action against Iran over missiles sent to the country’s Huthi rebels.

The council is set to vote on Monday on renewing sanctions on Yemen for a year, but a British-drafted text also calls for "additional measures" in response to a UN report which found that Iran had violated the arms embargo on Yemen.

The rival Russian-drafted text presented to the council on Saturday and seen by AFP would extend the sanctions regime on Yemen until February 2019 without any reference to the UN report’s findings on Iran and possible action targeting Tehran.

Diplomats said Russia could veto the British text, allowing for a vote on its own draft resolution. Negotiations were continuing on Sunday. The report by a UN panel of experts concluded that Iran was in violation of the 2015 arms embargo after determining that missiles fired by the Huthis at Saudi Arabia last year were made in Iran. Russia maintains that the report’s findings are not conclusive enough to justify action against Iran.

Britain, backed by the United States and France, had initially sought to condemn Iran, but that was dropped in negotiations. The last draft resolution expresses "particular concern" that "weapons of Iranian origin were introduced in Yemen after the imposition of the targeted arms embargo" and that Iran is in "non-compliance" with UN resolutions. The council would express "its intention to take additional measures to address these violations," according to the British-drafted text.