Iran Renews Call for End to Saudi Arabia’s Blockade on Yemen
Local Editor
The Iranian deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, reiterated on Wednesday Iran’s call for an end to Saudi Arabia’s blockade on Yemen.
In a Wednesday phone conversation with the UN special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, Abdollahian condemned the ongoing Saudi aggression against Yemen and called for effective measures by the United Nations [UN] to put an end to the Saudi military aggression and siege on the Yemeni people.
Abdollahian expressed regret that Saudi Arabia has not stopped its deadly airstrikes against Yemen as the holy month of Ramadan approaches.
Abdollahian and Cheikh Ahmed both expressed support for national dialog among the Yemenis and the UN’s role in facilitating the diplomatic process.
For his part, Cheikh Ahmed hailed Iran’s continued support and engagement with the UN and described the situation in Yemen as complex and difficult.
According to the UN, about 2,000 people have been killed and more than 500,000 displaced as a result of the crisis in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia is continuing its brutal airstrikes against Yemen despite condemnation from some countries, including Iran, of the US-led Saudi aggression against the impoverished country.
The US-led Saudi military aggression against Yemen began on March 26 -- without a UN mandate -- in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement, and to restore power to Yemen’s fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who is a close ally of Saudi Arabia.
