Iran slams continuation of Saudi military aggression against Yemen

A senior Iranian diplomat has slammed continuation of the Saudi war on Yemen during the Hajj pilgrimage, saying the military aggression defies constructive diplomacy and peace.

“Yemen will have no military winner,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Sunday, adding that Iran has presented an appropriate political solution to help Riyadh get out of the ongoing crisis in Yemen.

“Tehran supports national dialog among all Yemeni sides,” the Iranian diplomat said.

In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in April, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif submitted a four-point peace plan on Yemen in an attempt to end the bloodshed in the Arab country.

The proposal stresses the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Yemenis as well as dialog among various groups in the country.

Amir-Abdollahian said UN efforts to dispatch humanitarian aid to Yemen, lift the Saudi blockade on the country, and put an end to war and bloodshed have failed due to the lack of cooperation on the part of Saudi Arabia and the questionable silence of some Arab and Western countries.

In a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and bring back to power Riyadh’s staunch ally and fugitive former Yemeni president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, Saudi Arabia started its military aggression against its southern neighbor onMarch 26 without a UN mandate.

According to the UN, the conflict has so far left about 4,500 people dead and thousands of others wounded. Local Yemeni sources, however, say the fatality figure is much higher.