Nikki Haley on Thursday presented what she described as undeniable evidence that Iran is supplying arms to militants in Yemen and charged that Tehran is fueling conflict in Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria—activities that she said fly in the face of United Nations resolutions.
The U.N. ambassador stood in front of a large, orange-black recovered missile and other weapons debris, gathered from military attacks, that she said “might as well have had ‘made in Iran’ stickers all over” them.
“This evidence is part of what has led the U.S. intelligence community to conclude, unequivocally, that these weapons were supplied by the Iranian regime,” she said during a press conference at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling. “All are proof that Iran is defying the international community, and not just one time.”
Haley pointed to U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorses the nuclear deal: It calls upon Iran not to engage in activity “related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.” The resolution also prohibits Iran from conducting arms transfers. Iran has said that its ballistic missiles are defensive in nature and that the resolution does not apply.
Haley said the large missile behind her was “made in Iran” and “used to attack an international civilian airport in a G-20 country.”
“It was made in Iran, then sent to Houthi militants in Yemen,” she said. “From there, it was fired at a civilian airport, with the potential to kill hundreds of innocent civilians in Saudi Arabia.”
The U.N. ambassador applauded a recently released Secretary-General U.N. report, which she said maintains the “strongest language yet” and describes “violation after violation of weapons transfers and ballistic missile activity.”
“Most telling, the report makes a convincing case that Iran is illegally providing the Houthi militants in Yemen with dangerous weapons,” she said. “The report provides devastating evidence of missiles, conventional arms, and explosive boats of Iranian origin used by the rebels in Yemen, all of which violate U.N. resolutions.”
Haley invited members of Congress, U.N. Security Council members, and other foreign officials to visit and view the evidence. She described the weapons exhibit as the international community’s way of drawing attention to Iran’s destabilizing activities.
“Iran believes they have been given a pass,” she said. “It is incumbent on the international community to show, not only are they not being given a pass, but all of these actions have to stop, and stop immediately.”
Haley said the exhibit would be followed by an effort “to find ways to stop Iran from what they’re doing” within the administration and with other U.N. Security Council members. She promised “forthcoming information.”
Her announcement comes a month before President Donald Trump will again be confronted with a congressionally-mandated “compliance certification” related to the Iran nuclear deal. In mid-January Trump will also have to decide on whether to extend a waiver that allows continued sanctions relief to Iran.
Trump in October refused to certify one of the conditions under that “compliance certification” and warned that if lawmakers, along with administration officials and European allies, cannot come to a solution to fix the deal’s flaws, “the agreement will be terminated.” “Our participation can be canceled by me, as president, at any time,” he said.
But initial GOP efforts to fix what they describe as the deal’s flaws, such as the eventual phasing out of certain restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program and the agreement’s failure to properly address Iran’s ballistic missile program, have yet to produce once hoped-for legislation. Democrats have been wary to sign onto anything that changes the nuclear deal and have described the support of European allies as a prerequisite.
Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has said he would be open to revisiting the oversight legislation linked to the Iran deal that codifies the 90-day “compliance certification.”
Top members of that committee have reportedly been discussing legislation with the White House that is in line with the deal and places “some additional constraint on Iran,” but contains a new restriction on the president, for example, mandating congressional review if he tries to withdraw from the deal. Opponents of the deal have in turn warned lawmakers that “bad Iran legislation is worse than no Iran legislation.”
“Congress should not act unless it can pass legislation that increases U.S. leverage to change Iranian behavior by holding the sanctions sword of Damocles over the regime and its would-be trading partners in Europe,” Richard Goldberg, a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, wrote in an op-ed last week.
