The Security Council today renewed for 12 months the targeted travel-ban and asset-freeze measures imposed on designated individuals and entities in Yemen, and extended for 13 months the mandate of the Panel of Experts tasked with assisting the Council's Yemen Sanctions Committee - initially established through Council resolution 2140 (2014).
Adopting resolution 2837 (2026) (to be issued as document S/RES/2837(2026) ) by consensus, the 15-nation organ strongly condemned the military escalation in Yemen by the Houthis, demanding the group to immediately and unconditionally cease their military escalation and attacks.
By other terms, the Council requested the Secretary-General to increase the 2140 Panel of Experts to six members, including through dedicated expertise to review, monitor and report on maritime security, as well as to make the necessary financial and security arrangements to support its work.
In addition, the Council called on Member States to increase efforts to combat the smuggling of weapons and components via land and sea routes, including through enhanced information-sharing, to ensure implementation of the targeted arms embargo. As well, it expressed its intention to decide by 11 January 2027 on appropriate steps to take to prevent specified items in the Panel of Experts' thematic report on dual-use components and precursor chemicals (document S/2026/712 ) from being supplied, sold, transferred, or diverted to individuals or entities designated by the Committee.
Delegates Warn of Houthis' Ability to Adapt
The representative of the United Kingdom, who led negotiations on the text, said its strengthening of arms embargo measures ensured the sanctions regime "keeps pace with evolving threats", including those pertaining to dual-use components and pre-cursor chemicals, which underpin the Houthis' local chemical manufacturing capabilities and their ability to launch destabilizing attacks. Her delegation looks forward to agreeing, with Council members, on a list of dual-use items to be subject to measures within the sanctions regime, she said.
Similarly,Denmark's delegate, expressing concern over the Houthis' "relentless" adaptation of their supply chains, said that, "as a Security Council, it is our responsibility to take action in response, to prevent the supply of weapons to the Houthis".
"Holding accountable individuals and entities that threaten Yemen's peace, security and stability remains essential to creating conditions for a durable peace," said Pakistan's representative, welcoming the strengthened measures.
Speakers Welcome Maritime Security Focus
France's representative said the adopted text reflected the need to strengthen the sanctions regime and ensure the arms embargo is better respected. "With additional maritime experts, the Panel of Experts will be better able to monitor traffic passing through the sea," he added.
Greece's representative also welcomed the expansion of the Panel of Experts to include dedicated maritime security expertise in light of challenges to freedom of navigation posed by the Houthis in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. She also highlighted the findings of the Panel of Experts, which outlined the maritime routes through which the group acquires its illicit imports of cutting-edge weapons and "alarming" military adaptability, adding: "The current resolution attempts to reverse this course and ensure that the sanctions regime is sufficiently reinforced to remain relevant, effective and responsive to these threats."
The representative of Panama, likewise, welcomed that today's renewal strengthened the Panel's capacity by incorporating "specialized knowledge in the area of maritime security".
Latvia's delegate, Council President for November, speaking in her national capacity, said that the resolution's request to the Secretary-General to expand the Panel of Experts to six members will strengthen its dedicated expertise on maritime security and better inform the Council in its deliberations. However, her delegation would have preferred more swift and decisive steps to prevent dual-use items intended for military purposes from reaching the Houthis, she said, adding: "Closing procurement and diversion pathways is essential to curbing the Houthis' expanding domestic weapons-production capabilities."
Houthi Links to Terrorism Underscored
Bahrain's delegate, welcoming the additional enlisting criteria, pointed out that sanctions measures must keep pace with threats posed by the "Houthi terrorist militias", citing a statement made by the Gulf Cooperation Council in its latest session in Manama, which declared that "Houthis are terrorists and must be treated as such".
The representative of the United States urged those present to "consider the past four months" during which the Houthis threatened to close the Bab al-Mandab Strait, seized islands at the mouth of the Red Sea, fired on commercial vessels and attacked airports and oil fields in Saudi Arabia. "This is not just a local conflict - it jeopardizes global energy markets and the navigational rights and freedoms that every nation in this chamber depends upon," he said. In that context, he expressed regret that the Council "again failed to address the Houthi's growing ties to other terrorist organizations in the region, including Al-Shabaab".
For his part, Yemen's representative expressed regret that the Council was unable to agree on "naming things with their names". Failing to describe the Houthis as a terrorist group despite their "rich terrorist record", he said, "does not absolve the supporters of the Houthis from their responsibilities". Achieving security and stability in Yemen and the region requires a "clearer and more decisive international position" in this regard, he stressed. However, he welcomed that the text encourages practical cooperation with the Government alongside efforts to fight the illegal smuggling of weapons, underscoring the need for a "more decisive and coordinated global response" to such challenges, which undermine the sanctions regime.
Calls for Diplomacy, Restraint
The representative of Somalia, also speaking for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia, called on all parties to exercise restraint and avoid deepening the conflict, and he encouraged all Yemenis to engage constructively under UN auspices to achieve an inclusive political settlement.
"Council sanctions are merely a means, not an end in themselves," chimed in China's delegate, expressing hope that the situation will deescalate and that the necessary conditions will be created for a "political settlement of the Yemen issue".
Council sanctions "are there to - first and foremost - help with the political settlement and the stability of whatever crises erupt", said the representative of the Russian Federation. They must not be used to punish or exert greater pressure on parties to a conflict. Yet, some Council members pressure only "one of the key players in Yemen", she said, calling this approach is "shortsighted". While strikes on Saudi Arabia and impediments to the freedom of navigation must be condemned, she emphasized that "it would be wrong to place all of the blame for this on the Ansar Allah movement", adding that antagonizing them "will not lead to their disappearance from the chessboard - it will only further radicalize the situation".
