Saudi not at war with Iran: Foreign Minister

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said on Sunday that his country is not at war with Iran, but the latter should stop supporting Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen by supplying arms. “The kingdom is waiting for Tehran to do what it can to halt support for the Houthis’ criminal activities against the legitimate government in Yemen,” said Prince Saud Al-Faisal, “mainly to stop supplying them with arms.”

Al-Faisal made his comments during a joint press conference with his French counterpart, Laurent Fabius, in Riyadh. The Saudi minister stressed that his country had intervened in Yemen “at the request of the legitimate President, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi”; he accused Iran of intensifying the problem that could lead to worsening violence in the country. “How could Iran invite us to stop fighting in Yemen while the country has been in turmoil for over a year?” he asked.

Last Thursday, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, described the Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen as war crimes that amount to genocide.

Fabius, meanwhile, said that Paris was ready to provide political assistance to “its allies in the region” to reach a solution to the conflict in Yemen. “Until a solution that respects the government’s legitimacy and ends the violent conflict is reached on the ground, France is ready to assist in reaching a correct solution,” he explained.

On the ground, coalition aircraft are reported to have launched three strikes on the presidential palace in the southern city of Aden, which is controlled by the Houthis. They also launched a series of raids that targeted Houthi militants and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in several other parts of Yemen.

This page was update at 10.42 BST on April 13, 2015 with an edited version of the text.