FM: Iran Ready to Help Ceasefire Efforts in Yemen

“Ending the nightmare that is the war in Yemen is our collective responsibility,” Zarif wrote on his twitter page on Wednesday.

“We welcome the growing recognition that there is no military solution, and we are ready to contribute to any effort towards an immediate ceasefire, humanitarian assistance and intra-Yemeni dialogue,” he added.

Earlier this month, the UN Security Council called on all sides in Yemen, specially Saudi Arabia, to de-escalate the sharp upsurge in violence and re-engage with UN political efforts to achieve a ceasefire without preconditions.

After UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed briefed the Security Council during a closed-door meeting, Japanese ambassador to the UN and Security Council President for December, Koro Bessho, said, “Yemen stands on the brink of catastrophic famine” with “8 million people facing extreme food shortages and suspected cholera cases at over 970,000”.

The United Nations says millions of people in Yemen may die in one of the worst famines of modern times.

Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen since March 2015 to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi-led aggression has so far killed at least 15,000 Yemenis, including hundreds of women and children.

Despite Riyadh’s claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

According to several reports, the Saudi-led air campaign against Yemen has driven the impoverished country towards humanitarian disaster, as Saudi Arabia’s deadly campaign prevented the patients from travelling abroad for treatment and blocked the entry of medicine into the war-torn country.

The cholera outbreak in Yemen which began in April, has also claimed over 2,200 lives and has infected over 900,000 people, as the nation has been suffering from what the World Health Organization (WHO) describes as the “largest epidemic in the world” amid a non-stop bombing campaign led by Saudi Arabia. Also Riyadh’s deadly campaign prevented the patients from traveling abroad for treatment and blocked the entry of medicine into the war-torn country.

According to reports, the cholera epidemic in Yemen, which is the subject of a Saudi Arabian war and total embargo, is the largest recorded in modern history.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has described the current level of hunger in Yemen as “unprecedented,” emphasizing that 17 million people are now food insecure in the country.

It added that 6.8 million, meaning almost one in four people, do not have enough food and rely entirely on external assistance.

A recent survey showed that almost one third of families have gaps in their diets, and hardly ever consume foods like pulses, vegetables, fruit, dairy products or meat.

More than 3 million pregnant and nursing women and children under 5 need support to prevent or cure malnutrition.