...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...Huthi rebel war effort against the Saudi-backed government, according to a report by a UN panel of experts seen by AFP.
Yemen's Houthis control the port of Hodeida, the main entry point for imports and other supplies to the country
The findings are expected to again raise questions about Iran's support for the Huthis in the war that has pushed Yemen to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe.
In its final report for 2018, the panel said it had "identified a small number of companies, both within Yemen and outside, which operated as front companies," using fake documents to conceal fuel donations.
The fuel was "for the benefit of a listed individual" who is on a UN sanctions blacklist, it added.
"The revenue from the sale of this fuel was used to finance the Huthi war effort," said the 85-page report sent to the Security Council.
The panel found that the "fuel was loaded from ports in the Islamic Theocratic
Republicof Iran under false documentation" to avoid UN inspections of the cargo, it added.
The experts have in past reports pointed to a possible Iranian link to missiles fired by Houthis at Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
, after they traveled to Riyadh to examine weapons debris.
In a previous report, the experts said they were investigating monthly fuel donations from Iran valued at $30 million.
Iran has repeatedly denied that it is providing military support to the Huthis, who seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to intervene a year later to push back the rebels.
SAUDI COALITION BOMBINGS
The Huthis control the city and key port of Hodeida, a main entry point for imports to Yemen that pro-government forces had planned to capture in a new offensive launched in June.
A ceasefire in Hodeida was agreed during UN-brokered talks last month in Sweden and UN monitors are on the ground to oversee a pullback of forces from the port.
"Throughout the reporting period of 2018, Yemen continued its slide toward humanitarian and economic catastrophe," said the panel, which described the country as "deeply fractured" with a broken economy.