Yemen gov’t accuses Iran of arming Houthis with drones

ADEN, Yemen — The Yemeni government on Saturday accused Iran of supplying Shiite Houthi rebels with drones used for cross-border attacks into Saudi Arabia.

Riyadh said on Wednesday it had shot down two drones in the south of the kingdom as well as intercepting ballistic missiles fired from rebel-held parts of Yemen, the latest in a series of similar incidents.

The Saudi-backed government said in a statement on Saturday that the drones are “made in Iran”.

It added that Yemen’s military did not possess such aircraft and it was “impossible to manufacture them locally”.

Iran backs the Houthis, who seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military coalition to intervene against the rebels the following year.

But Tehran has repeatedly denied arming the rebels, which would violate a United Nations weapons embargo slapped on Yemen in 2015.

Riyadh said its air defences between Wednesday and Friday intercepted five ballistic missiles and two drones launched from rebel-held northern Yemen.

Saudi Arabia in March 2015 launched a coalition of Arab states fighting to roll back the Houthi rebels in Yemen and restore the country’s internationally-recognised government to power.

Nearly 10,000 people have since been killed in Yemen’s conflict, in what the United Nations has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.