by WorldTribune Staff, August 22, 2017
Iran is “the cause of the problem” in Yemen and “can’t be part of the solution,” Yemen’s foreign minister said on Aug. 21.
“Iran continues to support the Houthis, Iranian arms are smuggled in,” Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdulmalik al-Mekhlafi said at a news conference at the United Nations in New York.
Iran, which denies it is providing weapons to the Houthis, did not immediately comment on Yemen’s accusations.
In September 2014, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels laid siege on Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and overthrew the internationally-recognized government. The Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict in March 2015.
At least 10,000 civilians have died in the conflict, and another 44,000 have been wounded, the UN estimated in January.
Saudi Arabia’s UN ambassador also attacked Iran after hosting a luncheon for UN diplomats on the Yemen situation.
“Iran should get the hell out of the area, period,” Ambassador Abdallah Al-Muallimi said. “Iran has no role to play in the region.”
The UN has repeatedly warned that civilians caught up in the Yemeni conflict face acute shortages of food and clean water due to the war’s devastation on facilities.
Some 2,000 Yemenis have died of cholera since April and another 600,000 are expected to contract the infection this year, the UN said.
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