Iran demands end to Saudi Arabia's intervention in Yemen

President Hassan Rouhani called for Saudi Arabia to end the war in the Yemen, where it has fought Iranian-linked Houthi rebels since March 2015.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab & agencies

25 September, 2019

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addresses the United Nations General Assembly on 25 September 2018. [Getty]

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani demanded that Saudi Arabia end its war in Yemen during his speech to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.

The demand comes as both the Kingdom and the United States accuse Tehran of carrying out the attack on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities earlier this month.

"The security of Saudi Arabia will be guaranteed with the termination of aggression in Yemen, rather than by inviting foreigners," he told the UN General Assembly.

Rouhani had earlier accused foreign forces of creating "insecurity" in the region, speaking in response to the US' intention to deploy more troops to the Middle East.

Tensions escalated between arch-foes Iran and the United States after the devastating 14 September attacks on Saudi oil installations.

Also read: After The Aramco attack: A Middle East one step closer to its '1914 moment'

Yemen’s Houthi rebels took responsibility for the drone strikes on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities, claiming it was in response to the Kingdom’s actions in Yemen and threatened the coalition with further such attacks if it did not end its military campaign in the beleaguered country.

Both Riyadh and Washington however blame Tehran for those strikes.

Following the attacks, the United States announced on Friday that it was sending reinforcements to Saudi Arabia at "the kingdom's request".

The war in Yemen has dragged on since 2015, when the Saudi led coalition intervened in the country’s civil war to oust the Iranian-linked Houthi rebels from power.

Fighting since then has already claimed tens of thousands of lives and sparked what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Both pro-government forces and the Houthi rebels have been accused of committing war crimes.

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