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 group claimed several drone and missile assaults on the country this year.
The voting session is the latest UN action to punish those responsible for providing the Iran-backed group with advanced means to attack civilians and civil facilities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The session also marks the last day of Russia’s term as president of the Council for February before the UAE takes over.
The presidency of the Council is held by each of the members in turn for one month, following the English alphabetical order of the member states' names.
The UAE's proposed measure would expand a targeted UN arms embargo on several Houthi leaders to impact the whole group.
It needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by Russia, the United States, Britain, France or China.
The bill strongly condemns the cross-border attacks by the Houthi terrorist group, including attacks on Saudi Arabia and the UAE that targeted civilians and civil infrastructure, and calls for their immediate halt.
It calls for the full implementation of the political transition process following the Comprehensive National Dialogue Conference, in line with the Gulf initiative and its implementation mechanism, and in accordance with its previous related resolutions.
It considers dialogue and reconciliation among various Yemeni parties the only way to resolve the conflict, ruling out any military solution.
The Council is expected to renew the imposed measures in resolutions 2140 (2014) and 2216 (2015) until February 28, 2023.
The draft law underlines the importance of subjecting Houthis to the measures imposed in Article 14 of Resolution 2216, which calls for “preventing the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer to, or for, the benefit of (the Houthis) and those acting on their behalf or at their direction in Yemen, of arms and related materiel of all types.”
It further emphasizes the importance of ensuring the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Yemen.
The text calls on member states to increase efforts to combat the smuggling of weapons and components via land and sea routes and ensure the implementation of the targeted arms embargo.
It points to sexual violence or violations committed against children in armed conflicts as punitive acts, under Resolution 2140.
