Paul Ryan tours Middle East to 'smash Iranian threat'

US House Speaker Paul Ryan said more needs to be done to confront Iran, a message that was welcomed by his hosts in the United Arab Emirates, where he is leading a Congressional delegation.

The Wisconsin Republican spoke about the perceived Iranian threat on Thursday at the Emirates Diplomatic Academy.

Ryan says the US wants to challenge Iran's ability to threaten the region with ballistic missiles and stop its expansion across the Middle East.

Emirati Ambassador to Washington Yousef al-Otaiba showed particular excitement at Ryan’s Iran speech. He said he felt as though Ryan took the words out of his mouth.

Some 5,000 US soldiers are based in the UAE, and its Jebel Ali port is the US Navy's busiest foreign port of call.

This comes as the UN Security Council’s announcement that it will travel to Washington on Monday to inspect debris from missiles allegedly provided by Iran to Yemen's Houthi rebels and hold meetings at the White House.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley last month presented the fragments as "undeniable" evidence that a ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels at Saudi Arabia in November was Iranian-made.

That claim was bolstered when a UN panel of experts concluded in a recent report to the council that Iran had violated the arms embargo on Yemen by failing to block supplies of missiles to the rebels.

Haley has invited her UN counterparts to see the missile debris stored in a warehouse at a Washington military base.

"The evidence is undeniable. The weapons might as well have had 'Made in Iran' stickers all over it," Haley told a press conference last month.