
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.
See Yemen's performance in
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


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
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
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

NTI Tutorials
Treaties and Regimes Memberships
- NTI
- CNS
Analysis
Yemen

A Global Playbook for Nuclear Energy Development in Embarking Countries: Six Dimensions for Success
IAEA Pavilion, Blue Zone, COP28 UAE
|
11AM - 12PM GST
Learn about the Playbook’s options-based strategy for scaling new nuclear energy projects and how it accounts for the unique challenges and opportunities in individual countries.

NTI’s Lynn Rusten on the Costly and Potentially Destabilizing Recommendations in the 2023 Strategic Posture Commission Report
Nuclear Disarmament Israel

Education Center