RIYADH — The Yemeni government on Monday called on the UN Security Council to extend the arms embargo imposed on Iran. The Yemeni Minister of Information in the caretaker government, Muammar Al-Iryani, stated that the extension of the arms embargo imposed on Iran is an important step to force it to change its hostile policies that seek to spread chaos, sabotage and terrorism in the region, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Yemen's call comes a day after the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council pleaded the United Nations to renew the embargo, a move pushed strongly by the United States. In a statement to the official Yemeni News Agency, the Yemeni Minister of Information said that Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, the region and the whole world have suffered due to the hostile policies adopted by the Iranian regime and the Revolutionary Guards since the Iranian revolution as they tried to export the revolution and impose their control over countries by armed forces and sectarian militias. Al-Iryani added that the resumption of arms sales and supplies to Iran will fuel conflicts in the region as sectarian militias and terrorist organizations will target energy sources and international shipping corridors, threatening regional and international security. The arms embargo on Iran is set to end on Oct. 18 under Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which Washington quit in 2018. Meanwhile, the secretariat of the GCC, made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, sent a letter to the UN, pointing out that Iran has continued to proliferate conventional weapons and armed terrorist and sectarian organizations and movements throughout the region in violation of the deal. In the letter, the GCC states also said that Tehran has not desisted from armed interventions in neighboring countries, directly and through organizations and movements armed and trained by Iran. The arms embargo is imperative to ensure and preserve peace and stability in this region, the letter added. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed the GCC letter, saying it showed Middle East countries supported extending the embargo. "The GCC's letter calling on the UN Security Council to extend the arms embargo on Iran is a bold statement," he said, "The US will introduce a resolution this week to extend the embargo after years of diplomacy. The Council must choose between arming terrorists or standing by the Gulf."
