VOA常速英语:Russia Frustrates Peace Efforts in Yemen

Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have held Iran to account for flagrant violations of Security Council resolutions.

The Security Council's Yemen Panel of Experts report laid out in devastating detail the evidence that Iran has violated the Yemen arms embargo established by the Security Council in 2015 in Resolution 2216.

Ambassador Kelley Currie is U.S. Representative for Economic and Social Affairs to the United Nations. She said, “Iran failed to prevent the transfer of ballistic missiles, related military equipment, and unmanned aerial vehicle technology to the Houthi militants.”

This was confirmed when the ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis that struck near civilian areas in Saudi Arabia were found to be of Iranian origin. “As the U.S. intelligence community has long known, Iranian weapons are getting into the hands of Yemeni militias, and these militias are using them to target the capitals of Yemen's neighbors,” said Ambassador Currie.

A UK drafted security council resolution called out Iran for giving the Houthis the tools to threaten Yemen's neighbors and to threaten freedom of navigation through the Red Sea. “But this common sense attempt to hold Iran accountable has failed,” said Ambassador Currie. And now the potential exists for this “local conflict [to turn] into a broader regional one.”

Even though this vote was a deep disappointment, “this is far from the end of the road to accountability for Iran,” warned Ambassador Currie. “Across the region, Iran is entrenching itself. We see this in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. It is flouting its obligations under multiple Security Council resolutions as we speak. And it is making the world a more dangerous place.”

“We will not hesitate to continue to make the world aware of Iran's misdeeds,” declared Ambassador Currie. “And we will not stop until Tehran is stopped and peace is once more possible for the people of the Middle East.”