Iran’s Rouhani: Saudi, UAE started war in Yemen with support of US, Israel

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said yesterday that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), backed by the US and Israel, are the ones who started the war in Yemen and destroyed it.

In remarks cited by Arab media, the premier said: “The Yemenis did not target hospitals, schools, and markets, but targeted an industrial facility to warn Saudi Arabia.”

“We do not want a conflict in the region,” he continued, “but we must ask who started the war in Yemen.”

On Saturday, two Saudi oil facilities came under attack, temporarily halving Saudi oil production. The kingdom said yesterday that it had proof that Iran carried out the strikes.

READ: Trump says he does not want war after attack on Saudi oil facilities

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are part of an Arab coalition fighting in Yemen against the Iran-backed Houthis and forces loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The coalition entered the war in 2015 to reinstate the UN-backed President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. However, the UAE has been found to be backing the Southern Transitional Council in an effort to split Yemen in to two countries, North and South, contrary to the objectives of the coalition.

According to UN officials, more than 90,000 people have been killed in the war, while more than 11 per cent of the country’s population has been displaced.

MBS and MBZ bloody Yemeni war – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]