Iranian report: Israeli arms cache found in Saudi embassy in Yemen

A number of Israeli-manufactured weapons were discovered in the Saudi embassy in Sana’a, the Iranian semi-official Fars News Agency reported Saturday, quoting unnamed Houthi sources.

The report, which was carried prominently in Hebrew media on Sunday morning, could not be independently verified.

The report did not identify specific weapons the Saudis are supposedly using in Yemen that would be supplied from Israel. Saudi Arabia purchases the bulk of its military arms from the United States.

Houthi forces, which the report refers to as Ansarullah, claimed to have overrun the embassy after driving 40 guards from the premises in retaliation for the Saudi-led assault on the Houthis.

The report also claimed that documents uncovered from the embassy revealed US plans to build a naval base at Yemen’s Perim Island (alternatively called Birim or Miyoun in Arabic) at the entrance to the Bab al-Mandeb strait of the Red Sea between Yemen and Djibouti, which the report falsely attributed to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia ordered its Sana’a embassy closed in February as fighting intensified in the capital between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and forces loyal to President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. The Houthis have received material support from Iran since 2009, according to a UN report released earlier in May.

The Fars News Agency has reported such claims in the past and in early April quoted Yemeni army commander Taher Rasoul Zadami asserting, “The Saudis are using Israeli weapons in their raids on Yemen.”