Yemen demands Iran halts support for insurgents

JPost - Yemen's president has asked his Iranian counterpart to stop backing armed groups on its soil after coastguards seized a consignment of missiles and rockets believed sent by the Islamic Republic, a government official said on Thursday.

Iran has denied any connection to the weapons, found aboard a vessel off the coast on January 23 in an operation coordinated with the US Navy.

But government official Abdel-Rashid Abdel Hafez said President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi had contacted Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to demand Tehran stop smuggling in weapons.

Hafez gave no further details of the message.

"This is the most dangerous arms shipment being smuggled to Yemen," Yemeni Deputy Interior Minister Abdel-Rahman Hanash told Reuters.

"It contained anti-aircraft missiles, C4 high explosives materials which only a few countries in the Middle East possess." Yemen, a majority Sunni Muslim country, said last week the vessel had been loaded in Iran.

Officials in Washington have said the shipment was believed to have been from Shi'ite Muslim Iran and destined for insurgents, likely to be Shi'ite Houthis mainly based in northern Yemen.

Yemeni state television on Wednesday showed Interior Minister Abdul Qader Qahtan and National Security Board head Ali al-Ahmadi inspecting the weapons including 122 mm Katyusha rockets, anti-aircraft Strella 1 and 2 missiles, RPG launchers, explosives materials and Iranian-made night vision goggles.

Hanash said that while the investigation into the shipment was still under way, it was certain that the weapons were destined for an insurgent group. He did not name the group.

A source at Hadi's office said the arms were destined for Houthi rebels.