UN to inspect Iran missile debris

New York : The UN Security Council will travel to Washington on Monday to inspect debris from missiles provided by Iran to Yemen’s Huthi militia and hold meetings at the White House, diplomats said.

The ambassadors are expected to meet with US President Donald Trump as the US administration seeks international action against Iran, diplomats said.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley last month presented the fragments as “undeniable” evidence that a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Huthi militia at Saudi Arabia in November was Iranian-made.That claim was bolstered when a UN panel of experts concluded in a recent report to the council that Iran had violated the arms embargo on Yemen by failing to block supplies of missiles to the militia. Haley has invited her UN counterparts to see the missile debris stored in a warehouse at a Washington military base. “The evidence is undeniable. The weapons might as well have had ‘Made in Iran’ stickers all over it,” Haley told a press conference last month.The “evidence” stored in Washington includes other pieces of military material provided by Iran including fragments of an anti-tank missile and drones. Haley is seeking to persuade the Security Council to take action against Iran by imposing sanctions. A separate report said UN officials had examined the missile fragments and found that they were of “common origin” but they were unable to reach any firm conclusions on whether Iran was the source.

Fight Iran’s support for terrorists: Trump 

President Donald Trump yesterday called on world powers to do more to confront the threat posed by Iran due to its alleged support for terror groups.

He was addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, a gathering of generally pro-free-trade political and business leaders. The US leader called on allies to block Iran’s path to nuclear weapon.

“We continue to call on partners to confront Iran’s support for terrorists and block Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon,” Trump told the forum. Trump also called for “maximum pressure” to de-nuke the Korean Peninsula. - Agencies