President Rouhani regrets int’l community’s inaction on Yemeni crisis

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani criticized the international community’s inaction on the ongoing catastrophe in Yemen, stressing that the crisis should be resolved politically not through bombing defenseless people.

The Yemeni crisis should be resolved through political means, President Rouhani stressed Saturday in a meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop here in Tehran, adding that dropping bombs on defenseless people will yield no results.

He suggested that the UN could dispatch a fact-finding mission to Yemen to see for themselves that most of those killed in over 20 days of Saudi-led attacks on the war-torn country are innocent civilians.

The Iranian chief executive expressed deep sorrow over the international community’s failure to take action to resolve the Yemeni crisis, saying that there are many hurdles hampering even the transfer of humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, to Yemen.

“We are ready to consult and interact with” countries in the region and beyond and “try our best” to help stop the bloodshed, he further stated.

On March 26, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies began to militarily interfere in Yemen’s internal affairs by launching deadly air strikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to fugitive President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.

The attacks have killed near 2,600 Yemeni people so far, according to sources in the Arab country.

Rouhani pointed to the spread of terrorist groups in the world and said the Islamic Republic is ready to cooperate with all countries, including Australia, to combat terrorism and extremism.

The Australian foreign minister, for her part, hailed the longstanding relations between Tehran and Canberra and emphasized the necessity for efforts to boost bilateral cooperation in all spheres.

Julie Bishop is Australia’s highest-ranking official who has visited Iran in the past 12 years.