Iran warns Saudi-led strikes on Yemen rebels worsen war

Iran on Saturday condemned recent airstrikes in Yemen’s rebel-held areas, warning they make achieving peace in the war-torn country “more difficult”.

The Saudi-led coalition has denied as “baseless” reports that it carried out an airstrike on a prison in rebel-held northern Yemen that aid groups say killed at least 70 people, including immigrants, women and children.

Saudi Arabia accuses its regional rival Iran of providing military support to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, especially missiles and rockets, claims Tehran denies.

“The continuation of the coalition military attacks against Yemen with the silence and indifference of the international community and the uncontrolled sale of weapons to the aggressors…has made the path to achieve a just peace in the country even more difficult,” Saeed said. , spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Khatibzadeh said in a statement.

The latest violence in Yemen’s seven-year war came after Houthi forces claimed their first deadly attack on Abu Dhabi, the capital of the coalition member United Arab Emirates, on Monday.

The attack, which coincided with a coalition attack in Hodeidah that killed three children and knocked out Internet connections in Yemen, was condemned by the United Nations secretary-general.

Khatibzadeh said “serious determination to advance the political solution of the Yemeni crisis” was lacking, warning that it will lead to the “destruction of the country and instability in the region.”

Houthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting the Saudi-led intervention, backed by the United States, France and Britain, in March 2015.

“The countries that provide bombs and weapons of mass destruction to the coalition are complicit in these crimes and must be held accountable,” Khatibzadeh added.

Source Credit: TheGuardian