UAE's UN ambassador: we are in talks to upgrade defences against Houthi weapons

The Emirates said it intercepted two ballistic missiles on Monday

UAE's UN ambassador, Lana Nusseibeh is seen during a recent CNN interview. Screengrab

The UAE will continue on the path of diplomacy and de-escalation with Iran while it carries out defensive operations in Yemen against the Houthis, the UAE’s permanent representative to the UN Lana Nusseibeh has said.

"We will continue on the track of de-escalation and diplomacy (with Iran) but at the same time, we reserve the right to fully defend ourselves defensively and offensively in the region,” Ms Nusseibeh said in a CNN interview on Tuesday.

The UAE said it intercepted two ballistic missiles on Monday, a week after the Houthis hit an Adnoc oil storage plant in the capital, killing three people and injuring six.

On the same day, a projectile fired at the capital’s international airport caused a minor fire. No injuries were reported.

The UAE official called the acts “unacceptable” and “unprecedented”.

Missiles on display at a Houthi exhibition. The terrorist group has claimed responsibility for a spate of attempted attacks on the UAE leading to global condemnation. Reuters

A Houthi fighter fires an anti-tank missile in an August offensive near the south-west Saudi region of Najran along the Yemeni border. AFP

A Houthi ballistic missile aimed at Saudi Arabia. The kingdom thwarted a bid by Houthi militias to target civilians and civilian sites in the city of Khamis Mushait. Reuters

A file picture of the Quds cruise missile launch from an unidentified location in Yemen. Reuters

Missiles and drone aircraft are on display at a Houthi exhibition in Yemen. Reuters

Defensive capabilities

While Ms Nusseibah said the UAE’s defensive capabilities to intercept incoming attacks are “world-class”, she said there was room for improvement.

”There can always be upgrades, improvements and intelligence co-operation and these are the fields we’re looking at with our partners in the US.“

The Saudi-led coalition, which the UAE is a member of, the UN and other experts accuse Iran of supplying the Houthis with weapons.

Ms Nusseibah confirmed the Houthis have been developing their weapons arsenals.

“The type of weapons capabilities that the Houthis had in 2015 are very different from the type of weapons capabilities they are utilising and deploying to try and cause terror in our region in 2021.”

On the possibility of Iranian links to the recent attacks, the ambassador placed responsibility on the Houthis.

“The Houthis have claimed these attacks and our own intelligence pin-points the location of these attacks from Yemen and from the areas controlled by the Houthis in Yemen,” she said.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and other regional allies have been rallying support for Washington to re-list the Houthi group as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation.

"That means listing them again on sanctions regimes ... potentially listing additional figures, it means stopping the illicit flow of weapons and finance to them," she said.