Yemen Government Warns United Nations: Iranian Houthi Weapons Threaten International Flight Routes

The Yemeni government warned the Security Council and the United Nations of serious threats to the safety of international civil aviation over the southern Red Sea, due to the use of Iranian-made weapons by the Houthi militia launched from areas under their control in Al Hudaydah Governorate towards international flight paths.

This came in a letter sent by the Permanent Mission of Yemen to the United Nations to the President of the Security Council, Jerome Bonaventure, and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in which it called for urgent international action to confront the threat and implement the arms embargo imposed on the Houthis.

The government stated that it has documented the use of Iranian-made air defense weapons by the Houthis, which were modified inside Yemen with the participation of experts from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, transforming them into missiles capable of remaining in the air for up to 25 minutes.

It added that these weapons use thermal tracking systems that do not distinguish between targets, warning that launching them near international flight paths poses a direct danger to civilian aircraft and their passengers, including United Nations flights and humanitarian flights.

The government confirmed that the threat extends beyond Yemen's borders, noting that the Houthis, after targeting commercial ships and threatening navigation in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Bab al-Mandab, are now developing capabilities that could threaten civil aviation over the same strategic corridor.

The member states called for the full implementation of the arms embargo, and for the prevention of the transfer of weapons, components, technology, and military expertise to the Houthis. They also demanded urgent coordination with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to assess the risks facing aircraft and air routes over the southern Red Sea.

They expressed their readiness to provide the panel of experts on Yemen and the relevant international authorities with technical evidence, including data on launch sites and projectile trajectories, calling on the Security Council to circulate the message as an official document and to take action to prevent the proliferation of these capabilities and hold accountable those responsible for providing and developing them.