Iran Condemns Offensive on Yemen’s Hudaydah

TEHRAN (Defapress) – In a statement on Thursday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi strongly condemned the aerial and naval strikes by the Saudi-led military coalition on Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hudaydah.

Iran insists that the crisis in Yemen has no military solution and that the invaders must stop the war in that country, he said.

“Such crimes (against Yemeni people) have ruined a flicker of hope for the ongoing political efforts and will further complicate the situation,” the Iranian spokesman deplored.

The warplanes and warships of Saudi-led multinational coalition pounded Hudaydah port for a second day on Thursday to seize the strategic port, which is home to 600,000 people and is controlled by the Houthi forces.

The port is the main route for essential goods into Yemen, where 22 million people are in need of humanitarian aid and 8.4 million face starvation, according to the United Nations, which says the figure could reach 10 million by year end.

Aid agencies have said the battle may exacerbate an already catastrophic humanitarian situation.

The UN has warned that in a worst-case scenario, the battle could cost up to 250,000 lives and cut off aid supplies to millions of people.

Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies have been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.

Over 14,000 Yemenis, including women and children, have died in the deadly military campaign.

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