Iran urges Muslim world 'to stop Saudi war in Yemen'

Iran’s secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) yesterday called on Muslim countries to pressure the Saudi leadership to stop what it described as a “genocide against the Yemeni people.”

Ali Shamkhani’s remarks came during his meeting with the Pakistani Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa in the Iranian capital city of Tehran.

“Islamic countries must immediately put an end to this heinous genocide by exerting great pressure on the Al Saud regime,” Shamkhani was quoted by official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) as saying.

He stressed on the necessity of what he described as “cooperation and solidarity between the Muslim countries in the fight against any destabilising and tense actions.”

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“The Saudi war against the Yemeni people is a clear example of destabilisation of security in the region and a flagrant violation of human rights,” the Iranian official reiterated.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including Sanaa. The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

Since then, tens of thousands of Yemenis, including numerous civilians, are believed to have been killed in the conflict, while another 14 million are at risk of starvation, according to the United Nations (UN).