Yemen

Country Spotlight

Yemen is a member in good standing of major nonproliferation agreements. Since the outbreak of civil war in 2015, ballistic missiles have flowed into Yemen, and Islamist rebels have used Yemeni territory to launch missile attacks against belligerents in the conflict, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

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

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

Tutorial on Nuclear 101

Teaching Tool

Tutorial on Nuclear 101

Overview of the Nuclear Disarmament Resource Collection

Database

Overview of the Nuclear Disarmament Resource Collection

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

Tutorial on Biological Weapons Nonproliferation

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Tutorial on Biological Weapons Nonproliferation

Yemen Overview

Fact Sheet

Yemen Overview

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

Tutorial on Missiles and Other WMD Delivery Systems

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Tutorial on Missiles and Other WMD Delivery Systems

Overview: Applying New Tools to Nonproliferation: A Nuclear Detective Story

Report

Overview: Applying New Tools to Nonproliferation: A Nuclear Detective Story

Chemical

Subjected to chemical weapons use by Egypt during the North Yemen Civil War (1963-1967)
Not known to have ever pursued a chemical weapons program
Passed legislation in 2014 to strengthen domestic chemical regulations

Tutorial on Chemical Weapons Nonproliferation

Teaching Tool

Tutorial on Chemical Weapons Nonproliferation

NTI Tutorials

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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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Yemen

NTI Seminar: Dr. Mariana Budjeryn on the Collapse of the USSR and the Disarmament of Ukraine

Atomic Pulse May 26, 2023

NTI Seminar: Dr. Mariana Budjeryn on the Collapse of the USSR and the Disarmament of Ukraine

During an NTI seminar Dr. Mariana Budjeryn, Senior Research Associate at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center's Project on Managing the Atom, shared key insights from her new book, Inheriting the Bomb: The Collapse of the Soviet Union and the Nuclear Disarmament of Ukraine.

NTI at SynBioBeta, the Global Synthetic Biology Conference