Tasnim � A United Nations panel of experts claimed that Yemeni forces are still being armed with ballistic missiles and drones that �show characteristics similar� to those made by Iran.

AFP cited a confidential report to the UN Security Council as confirming the panel �continues to believe� ballistic missiles and other weapons are being transferred from Iran to Yemen despite a 2015 arms embargo.

The report said the 125-page report, reportedly based on inspections of debris from 10 missiles and other unmanned aerial vehicles in Saudi Arabia, found they showed �characteristics similar to weapons systems known to be produced in the Islamic Republic of Iran�.

�It seems that despite the targeted arms embargo, the Houthis continue to have access to ballistic missiles and UAVs to continue and possibly intensify their campaign against targets in KSA (Saudi Arabia),� one passage read.

The panel said there was a �high probability� that the missiles were manufactured outside Yemen and shipped in parts to be reassembled.

In a letter to the United Nations on March 30, Iran once again rejected �imaginary� and �unfounded� Saudi claims of Tehran sending missiles to Yemen, saying the Riyadh regime has repeatedly used the same �scenario� to divert attention from its ongoing atrocities against the Yemeni people.

�Accusing Iran of providing or smuggling ballistic missiles to one of the parties to the conflict in Yemen is nothing but an attempt to conceal the brutal and unlawful aggression in Yemen and the extremely appalling situation caused by such aggression,� Iran�s Ambassador to UN Gholamali Khoshroo said in the letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Security Council chief Karel Jan Gustaff van Oosterom.

The letter came days after the Saudi envoy to the UN Abdallah al-Moallimi wrote to the world body, claiming that Iran should be held accountable for supplying Yemen�s Houthi Ansarullah movement with missiles to target Saudi soil.