Iran is smuggling an increasingly potent arsenal of weapons to the Houthi rebels in Yemen not seen in the country before the conflict, the top US general in the Middle East has said.
In an interview with The New York Times, Vice Admiral Kevin M Donegan said Iran was supplying the Shiite rebels with anti-ship and ballistic missiles, deadly sea mines and explosive boats, weapons that have attacked allied ships in the Red Sea and Saudi territory across Yemen's northeastern border.
“These types of weapons did not exist in Yemen before the conflict,” Admiral Donegan said on Monday. “It’s not rocket science to conclude that the Houthis are getting not only these systems but likely training and advice and assistance in how to use them.”
The Houthis and allied fighters are battling the internally-recognised government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition that includes the UAE. The United States is working with the coalition to restore Mr Hadi to power.
The violence began after the Houthis captured the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, in September 2014 and later advanced south, taking large swathes of the country. The coalition intervened in the war in March 2015 and has since helped pro-government forces retake much of the territory captured by the rebels. The Houthis are allied with renegade soldiers loyal to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
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Read more:
[ Yemen 'will not give Iran a foothold' ]
[ Suleimani claims Iran has 'upper hand' in region ]
[ Weapons seizures show Iran 'arms pipeline' to Yemen's Houthi rebels ]
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Admiral Donegan was speaking from his Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain as he prepared to conclude his two-year tour.
The remarks by the general came after Reuters reported last month that Iran's Revolutionary Guard had begun using a new route across the Arabian Gulf to funnel covert arms shipments to the Houthis.
In March, regional and western sources said Iran was shipping weapons and military advisers to the Houthis either directly to Yemen or via Somalia. But, Reuters said, that route risked contact with international naval vessels on patrol in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
As a result, western and Iranian sources told Reuters that for the past six months, the Guard had been using waters further up the Arabian Gulf between Kuwait and Iran to reach the Houthis.
Also in March, the arms tracking NGO Conflict Armament Research said Iran had transferred so-called kamikaze aerial drone technology to the Houthis who had used it to disable coalition missile defences.
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A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
How will Gen Alpha invest?
Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.
“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.
Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.
He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.
Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”
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Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
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Ronaldo (87')
Athletic Bilbao 1
Williams (14')
Company profile
Name: WonderTree
Started: April 2016
Co-founders: Muhammad Waqas and Muhammad Usman
Based: Karachi, Pakistan, Abu Dhabi, UAE, and Delaware, US
Sector: Special education, education technology, assistive technology, augmented reality
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Company profile
Name: Yodawy
Based: Egypt
Founders: Karim Khashaba, Sherief El-Feky and Yasser AbdelGawad
Sector: HealthTech
Total funding: $24.5 million
Investors: Algebra Ventures, Global Ventures, MEVP and Delivery Hero Ventures, among others
Number of employees: 500
Company Profile
Company name: Cargoz
Date started: January 2022
Founders: Premlal Pullisserry and Lijo Antony
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 30
Investment stage: Seed
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
Company profile
Company name: Leap
Started: March 2021
Founders: Ziad Toqan and Jamil Khammu
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Funds raised: Undisclosed
Current number of staff: Seven
Read more about the coronavirus
The bio
Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions
School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira
Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk
Dream City: San Francisco
Hometown: Dubai
City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala
How to increase your savings
- Have a plan for your savings.
- Decide on your emergency fund target and once that's achieved, assign your savings to another financial goal such as saving for a house or investing for retirement.
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- Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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Dominic Rubin, Oxford
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Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance: the specs
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