Yemen’s president denounces Iran as ‘sponsor of terror’ at Arab summit

Yemen’s embattled president launches a scathing verbal attack on Iran, saying the non-Arab and mostly Shiite nation is pursuing expansionist policies to destroy the Arab identity.

Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi tells the Arab summit in Jordan that Iran “is the true sponsor of terrorism.”

Civil war has raged in Yemen for two years. The fighting pits Hadi’s troops, backed by a Saudi-led international military coalition of mostly Arab states, against Shiite Houthi rebels, led by Abdul-Malek al-Houthi and backed by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his forces. Iran supports fellow Shiite Houthis.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II (R) welcomes Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi during a welcome ceremony for the latter at the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman on March 28, 2017 ahead of talks on the eve of the Arab League summit. (AFP PHOTO / Khalil MAZRAAWI)

Hadi, who heads the internationally recognized government based in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden, lavishly praised Saudi Arabia for its role in the war.

The conflict has killed more than 10,000 civilians, displaced over three million people and pushed the impoverished country to the brink of famine.

— AP