Iran cleric condemns illegal Saudi Arabia’s strikes on Yemen

A senior Iranian cleric has condemned Saudi Arabia’s deadly airstrikes against Yemen as inhumane and illegal.

“Such aggression is interference in other countries’ affairs and we condemn this aggression and interference in Yemen’s internal affairs,” Kazem Seddiqi said in a sermon to worshippers during weekly Friday Prayers in Tehran.

He added that Saudi Arabia and its allies are conducting the attacks on Yemen out of their fear, but they must know that such acts will accelerate their collapse.

He said Yemen’s fugitive president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, failed to fulfill his obligations, stressing that his presidency is no more legitimate.

The cleric added that the popular committees that the Yemen people formed following the recent power vacuum showed that they are wise and experienced enough to run their country.

Seddiqi said an American-Israeli alliance is seeking to instigate unrest in Yemen.

Yemeni civilians and security forces stand at the site of a Saudi airstrike near Sana’a airport on March 26, 2015. ©AFP
On Thursday, Saudi fighter jets invaded Yemeni, inflicting “dozens” of casualties on ordinary people.

The military aggression against Yemen comes as the fugitive Yemeni president arrived in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Thursday night. Riyadh says it has launched the strikes to defend the “legitimate government” of Hadi upon his request.

The blatant invasion of Yemen’s sovereignty by Saudi government comes against a backdrop of total silence on the part of international bodies, especially the United Nations. The world body has so far failed to show any reaction whatsoever to violation of the sovereignty of one of its members by Riyadh.

Seddiqi further said Iran demands “logical negotiations” over its nuclear program but it would never bow to the US bullying.

He added that Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and the Iranian nation and government insist on the continuation of negotiations.

A fresh round of talks over Tehran’s nuclear program began in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday with a meeting between the Iranian foreign minister and US secretary of state as part of broader negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 countries aimed at clinching a final nuclear deal.

Iran and the six global powers – the US, Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany — have been in talks to resolve outstanding issues surrounding Tehran’s nuclear activities to pave the way for striking an overarching deal on the country’s nuclear program as a deadline slated for July 1 draws closer.