Yemen Flag for Yemen

Country Spotlight

Yemen is a member in good standing of major nonproliferation agreements. With the outbreak of civil war in 2014, ballistic missiles and other weapons flowed into Yemen, and the Yemeni Houthis used the country’s territory to launch missile attacks against foreign belligerents in the conflict, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in late 2023, the Yemeni Houthis have launched missiles and drones at Israel and against commercial and naval ships in the Red Sea.

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Region   Middle East and North Africa

~300 Scud missiles stockpiled in 2015

2014 Current Yemen Civil War begins

~40 Number of chemical weapons attacks carried out by Egypt on Yemeni territory during the North Yemen Civil War in the 1960s

Nuclear

  • Not known to have ever pursued a nuclear weapons program
  • Has expressed interest in developing nuclear power, but ongoing conflict has prevented this
  • Party to International Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material

Biological

  • Not known to have ever pursued a biological weapons program
  • Signed the Biological Weapons Convention as North and South Yemen before unification in 1990

Missile

  • Possesses Soviet Scud ballistic missiles and North Korean Hwasong ballistic missiles
  • Most Yemeni missiles were seized by Houthi rebels after the start of the civil war
  • Ongoing civil war has been marked by extensive ballistic missile use by all parties

Chemical

  • Subjected to chemical weapons use by Egypt during the North Yemen Civil War in the 1960s
  • Not known to have ever pursued a chemical weapons program
  • Passed legislation in 2014 to strengthen domestic chemical regulations

Treaties and Regimes Memberships

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NPT

The NPT is a treaty aimed at limiting the spread of nuclear weapons through the three pillars of non-proliferation, disarmament, and peaceful use of nuclear energy.

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Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) requires countries to destroy all chemical weapons and prohibits developing, stockpiling, or using chemical weapons.

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Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM)

The Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) focuses on the physical protection of peaceful use of nuclear materials

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Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)

The BTWC mandates the elimination of existing biological weapons and prohibits developing, stockpiling, or using biological and toxin weapons.

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Facilities

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Yemen

Young Voices in International Security: Mackenzie Knight

Atomic Pulse

Young Voices in International Security: Mackenzie Knight

Jupiter Huang, NTI’s Communications intern, had the opportunity to speak with Mackenzie Knight, the program associate for Global Risk at the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), for this inaugural post of the Young Voices series.

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