Iran: Saudi ‘attack’ on Yemen endangers entire region

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait — Iran warned on 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,” Iranian deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said. “This is not in the interest of the nations in the region.”

“Military operations must stop immediately” to open the way to a political solution, he told reporters on the sidelines of a Syria donors conference in Kuwait.

Iranian state television reported on Tuesday that Iran had sent a shipment of non-military aid to Yemen, the first since a Saudi-led coalition last week started air strikes against the Shiite Houthi rebels.

“The shipment being sent includes 19 tons of medicine and health equipment, vital items and two tonnes 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.

The Houthis are backed as well by army units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who stepped down in 2012 after a year of bloody protests in the deeply tribal country, where Al-Qaeda is active.

Houthi forces and allied renegade military units have overrun much of Yemen and prompted Hadi to flee what had been his last remaining refuge in the main southern city Aden.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.