Iran: Saudi 'Attack' on Yemen Endangers Whole Region
Iran warned Tuesday that the Saudi "attack" on Yemen endangered the whole region, calling for an immediate halt to the military operation against Shiite rebels.
"The fire of war in the region from any side... will drag the whole region to play with fire. This is not in the interest of the nations in the region," Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said.
"We strongly object to the military solution in Yemen. We believe that the Saudi military attack against Yemen is a strategic mistake," Abdollahian told reporters on the sidelines of a Syria donors conference in Kuwait.
"Military operations must stop immediately" to open the way to a "political solution," he said.
A Saudi-led Arab coalition has been pounding rebel positions in Yemen since Thursday. Riyadh accuses Tehran of backing the Huthi Shiite rebels.
Abdollahian said Iran sees the intervention in Yemen as "external aggression" that will foment extremism in the region.
But Tehran and Riyadh are "capable of cooperating to strike a compromise in Yemen," and the same can apply to a solution in Syria, he added.
His remarks came shortly after Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal denounced Iran's "support" for Shiite rebels seeking to "destabilize" Yemen, insisting that the kingdom's rulers are not "warmongers".
Saudi Arabia fears that the rebels, who seized power in the capital Sanaa in February, could take the country into the orbit of Iran, its Shiite-dominated rival across the Gulf.
Later on Tuesday, Iran sent a shipment of non-military aid to Yemen, the first since the Saudi-led coalition last week started air strikes against Huthi rebels, state television reported.
"The shipment being sent includes 19 tons of medicine and health equipment, vital items and two tons of food," said Dr. Nasser Charkhsaz, director of the Iranian Red Crescent.
The report said the shipment was sent by air, but it did not say to where.
Iran, the region's dominant Shiite power, meanwhile rejected claims that it had sent arms to Yemen, where the Huthis -- whom Saudi Arabia accuses Tehran of backing -- are under attack from the air.
Such reports are "completely manufactured and utter lies", ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham was quoted on the official IRNA news agency as saying.
"These claims cannot in any way justify a military strike on Yemen," she said.
"Since our (aviation) agreement we have had a few civilian flights carrying medical and hygienic aid to Sanaa and the cargos have been delivered to Yemen's Red Crescent."
Afkham said Iran was ready to help treat the wounded in Yemen.
The Saudi-led coalition has vowed to keep up its bombing raids until the rebels abandon their insurrection against President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who has fled to Riyadh.
Hadi also accuses the rebels, who overran the capital last year and have since advanced across much of the country, of being supported by Iran.
Source: Agence France Presse
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