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Iranian president calls for Yemen ceasefire Iranian president calls for Yemen ceasefire
(about 1 hour later)
Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has called for an end to air strikes in Yemen by Saudi Arabia and Arab allies, and said countries in the region should work towards a political solution. Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has called for an end to air strikes in Yemen by Saudi Arabia and Arab allies as the US said it would not “stand by” as Tehran destabilised the region.
“A great nation like Yemen will not submit to bombing. Come, let us all think about ending war. Let us think about a ceasefire,” Rouhani said in a televised speech. The televised comments followed the US secretary of state, John Kerry, and the United Arab Emirates foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nayahan, both accusing Iran of meddling in Yemen.
Rouhani said the Saudi-led campaign was a “mistake” and warned that it would not succeed, citing the example of Syria and Iraq. “You learned that it was wrong. You will learn, not later but soon, that you are making mistake in Yemen, too.”
He called for a ceasefire in Yemen to allow for a ceasefire and broad-based talks on resolving the crisis. “A great nation like Yemen will not submit to bombing. Come, let us all think about ending war. Let us think about a ceasefire,” he said. “Let us accept that the future of Yemen will be in the hands of the people of Yemen, not anyone else.”
Saudi Arabia and a coalition that includes four other Gulf Arab states have carried out air strikes against the Iran-allied Houthi movement for the past two weeks to try to drive them back from Yemen’s southern city of Aden.Saudi Arabia and a coalition that includes four other Gulf Arab states have carried out air strikes against the Iran-allied Houthi movement for the past two weeks to try to drive them back from Yemen’s southern city of Aden.
“Let us prepare to bring Yemenis to the negotiating table to make decisions about their future … Let us accept that the future of Yemen will be in the hands of the people of Yemen, not anyone else,” Rouhani said. Saudi Arabia began the air strikes on 26 March in a bid to stop the advance of Shia Houthi rebels, which it and the US accuse Iran of arming.
Coalition countries say they are supporting the Yemeni president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, against an attempted coup by the Houthis and accuse Iran of arming the group, a charge the Islamic Republic denies. Kerry reiterated the claim on Wednesday. “There have been - there are, obviously - flights coming from Iran. Every single week there are flights from Iran and we’ve traced it and know this,” he told PBS television in an interview.
On Wednesday the US secretary of state, John Kerry, and the United Arab Emirates foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nayahan, both accused Iran of meddling in Yemen. “Iran needs to recognise that the United States is not going to stand by while the region is destabilised or while people engage in overt warfare across lines, international boundaries in other countries.”
On the same day, Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, called on Pakistan to work towards a political solution during a visit to Islamabad, after Saudi Arabia asked Pakistan to join the coalition. Coalition countries say they are supporting the Yemeni president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, against an attempted coup by the Houthis, Shia fighters who have taken over large areas of Yemen.
At least 20 Houthi rebels were killed in southern Yemen on Thursday by Saudi-led coalition air strikes and an ambush by pro-government militia, army and loyalist militia sources said. “Fourteen Houthis were killed in eight dawn air raids by the coalition on their positions near Dar Saad,” a northern district of the port city of Aden, a loyalist army source told AFP.
Aden has been the target of a three-week-old assault by the Houthi forces, which already control the Yemeni capital of Sana’a.
The rebels fought street-by-street battles with local militias in the old centre of Aden on Wednesday, as the first boatloads of emergency medical aid arrived in the south Yemeni port city where aid workers say a humanitarian catastrophe looms.
Residents saw a dozen bodies strewn on the streets and said that rocket fire had damaged and destroyed a number of buildings. Mosques broadcast appeals for jihad against the Houthis.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, warned in comments published on Thursday that Islamic world is at risk of “disintegration” due to the current conflicts in the region between Sunni and Shia Muslims.
“You can have a different denomination (of Islam) but if you seek to impose one denomination on another you will break up the ummah (Islamic community),” he said.
Erdogan said all the regional crises, including Yemen, were on the agenda when he held talks on Tuesday with Rouhani and Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Turkey has strongly backed the military action by Sunni Muslim power Saudi Arabia against the Iran-allied rebels in Yemen. He said proposals agreed during a meeting on Monday with Saudi deputy crown prince and Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef had been conveyed to Iran during his visit.