The Yemeni Government warned the UN Security Council that the use by Huthis of weapons of Iranian origin represents a “serious threat” to international civil aviation over the south of the Red Sea.
© SALEH AL-OBEIDI/AFP via Getty Images
01/10/2026
by
Lusa
Na letter addressed to the President of the Security Council, Jérôme Bonnafont, and to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, made public today, the Yemeni Government has stated that it has documented the use of air defense weapons of Iranian origin, modified in Yemen with the participation of experts from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
The Executive indicated that the weapons had been transformed into “missiles capable of remaining in the air for up to 25 minutes and equipped with thermal detection systems”, adding that these weapons use “thermal detection systems that do not reliably distinguish between military and civilian heat sources”.
The launch of these weapons near international air routes represents “a serious risk for aircraft and passengers, including humanitarian and UN flights operating in Yemen and the region,” the letter stresses.
The Yemeni Government urges the UN Member States to fully implement the arms embargo imposed under the relevant Security Council Resolutions, in particular Resolution 2216, adopted in 2015.
Sanaa also asks international investigators to analyse the evidence to determine the origin, characteristics and mechanisms of arms functioning and to identify the networks involved in their transfer and development.
The warning arises in a context of intensification of the military activity of the Shia Huthis rebels in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb and the Gulf of Aden.
The group has already launched attacks on commercial maritime transport in the region, which has caused international military operations and repeated warnings on the risks to one of the world's leading maritime trade routes.
The letter of the Yemeni Government is published weeks after the insurgents have been able to consolidate major advances on the western and southern coast of Yemen, conquering the vast majority of the Red Sea coast and strengthening control around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in the course of the offensive launched against government troops.