On UAE proposal, UN Security Council to vote on Houthi arms embargo

The United Nations Security Council is due to vote Monday on a proposal by the United Arab Emirates to impose an arms embargo on Yemen's Houthis after the Iran-backed militias claimed several drone and missile assaults on Emirati and Saudi civilian targets this year.

The measure would expand a targeted UN arms embargo on Houthis as leaders and as a group. The measure needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes by Russia, the United States, Britain, France or China.

A Saudi-led coalition, including the UAE, intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Iran-backed Houthis removed the internationally recognised government from Sana'a..

The coalition, the United States and UN sanctions monitors have accused Iran of supplying the Houthis with arms.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people and caused a humanitarian crisis, pushing Yemen to the brink of famine.

A senior Security Council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the proposed arms embargo on the Houthi group does not include an asset freeze so there would be "no impact on humanitarian aid or commercial shipping, which was a concern" among some council members.

A year ago President Joe Biden's administration revoked a US designation of the Houthis as a terrorist organisation over concerns that it would worsen Yemen's humanitarian crisis. The decision has seemed to embolden the Houthis ever since.  Former President Donald Trump's administration had blacklisted the Houthis one day before Biden took office in January 2021.

The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and some American lawmakers are pressing the White House to return the Houthi movement to the US list of foreign terrorist groups over the recent Houthi attacks on the UAE and Saudi Arabia.