Local Editor

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Morteza Sarmadi deplored as "unacceptable" the politicization of the issue of humanitarian aid to Yemen, and urged international bodies to fulfill their duties in the facilitation of aid delivery to the war-torn country.

In a meeting with the visiting Chairman of the International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC] Peter Maurer in Iran’s capital of Tehran on Wednesday, Sarmadi said that people in Yemen are suffering from adverse conditions, but that it has gotten difficult to deliver humanitarian aid to the impoverished country. 

He stressed that the "politicization of aid delivery to Yemen is in no way acceptable". 

He asked international bodies to break the siege and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the country.

"Unfortunately, international standards are not observed in sending humanitarian aid to Yemen," he went on to say, urging ICRC and the international community to perform their responsibilities in this regard.

He explained that making the world’s public opinion aware of the opposition of certain countries to humanitarian aid to Yemen can be effective in ending the blockade.

For his part, Maurer said that ICRC’s main problems in countries like Yemen, Syria, and Iraq is ensuring the delivery of aid to the people in need.

"We should find a way to enable the delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemen," he stressed, warning against the dire situation in the country after the collapse of social and sanitarian infrastructures.

The shortage of water, food, medicine, power, and medical equipment has greatly hindered the aid delivery, he further said.

On March 26, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies backed by the United States began to launch deadly air strikes in Yemen The airstrikes have not been authorized by the United Nations [UN]. 

The death toll of civilians has risen to at least 1,916, with another 4,186 civilians wounded since the escalation of the conflict in Yemen in March, according to the UN recently last week.

The US-led Saudi aggression was launched in an attempt to restore power to the fugitive former Yemeni President, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Saudi Arabia.