Analysis | ‘Made in Iran’: US displays weapon fragments it says prove Tehran is arming Yemen rebels
Iran says the claims recall false evidence used by the US to justify its war in Iraq
The Trump administration wants to use what it describes as evidence of Iran’s deepening military involvement in Yemen’s civil war to secure a new international consensus for harsher action against Tehran, part of a plan to isolate its chief adversary in the Middle East.
US officials have seized on a series of missile strikes by a Yemeni rebel group against Saudi Arabia as an opportunity to intensify global pressure on Iran.
At an elaborately staged presentation at a Washington military base, Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, on Thursday showcased weaponry that she said constituted “undeniable” proof that Iran had expanded its support for Houthi rebels in Yemen as it continues to back armed groups in Lebanon, Syria and other countries.
“This evidence demonstrates a pattern of behaviour in which Iran sows conflict and extremism,” Haley said, flanked by an array of mangled missile parts, a broken-up drone and other weaponry recovered by Persian Gulf allies of the United States.
The rare decision to publicly present material exploited by intelligence analysts underscores the Trump administration’s determination to galvanise new international action against Iran even as President Donald Trump threatens to abandon the 2015 nuclear agreement negotiated by his predecessor and other world powers.
