AMBASSADOR/FOREIGN POLICY/IRAN/NIKKI HALEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/UN: “The Trump administration escalated efforts to put pressure on Iran on Monday [1-29-18], taking ambassadors from the United Nations Security Council on a field trip to inspect what American officials called remnants of Iranian missiles and other weaponry illegally supplied to Yemen rebels.
The ambassadors were also White House lunch guests of President Trump, who pressed them to counter ‘Iran’s destabilization activities in the Middle East.’
The missile fragments, along with other military equipment, were first unveiled last month by Nikki R. Haley, the American ambassador to the United Nations. She presented them as proof that Iran had violated United Nations sanctions on supplies of weaponry to Houthi rebels in Yemen, where more than 10,000 people have died in a war that began three years ago…
It was unclear on Monday whether Ms. Haley, who led her Security Council colleagues on the tour at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, provided additional material to bolster the administration’s case.
Journalists were not invited, although photos provided by Ms. Haley’s office showed mangled hunks of metal, the drone and other items that were part of the presentation she made in December. The provenance of the displayed pieces, including when and where they were collected, was not explained.”
-Michael Schwirtz, “With Tour and White House Lunch, Trump Presses U.N. Envoys on Iran,” The New York Times online, Jan. 29, 2018