Iran complains to UNSC of Riyadh siege on Yemen

Iran has lodged a complaint with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) over Riyadh’s blockade on Yemen and Saudi Arabia’s blocking of aid deliveries to its neighboring country.

In the letter of complaint, Iran’s envoy to the United Nations Golam Ali Khoshroo said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran has tried all means to alleviate the sufferings of the affected Yemeni people. These efforts have been mostly thwarted by the [Saudi-led] coalition forces.”

The Al Saud regime has imposed a blockade on the delivery of relief supplies to the war-stricken people of Yemen in defiance of calls by international aid groups.

In April, Saudi fighter jets intercepted an Iranian airplane carrying humanitarian aid and medicine as well as injured Yemenis treated in Iran, and prevented it from entering the Yemeni airspace. The plane was forced to turn back although it had obtained the necessary permission to fly along the Oman-Yemen route.

The Iranian diplomat also wrote that “those who violate international law, including international humanitarian law, should be held accountable for their acts.”

“There should be no room for impunity for” the violators of the international laws, he stressed.

Khoshroo further referred to Saudi Arabia’s bombing of residential areas, governmental buildings and places such as airports, roads, and religious sites, adding, “The destruction of the transportation infrastructure of Yemen by the coalition forces has adversely influenced the delivery of humanitarian aid.”

On Monday, an Iranian ship, dubbed Nejat (Rescue), carrying 2,500 tons of much-needed humanitarian supplies left the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas for war-torn Yemen. The ship carrying tons of much-needed aid, including food and medical supplies, is now in the Sea of Oman, heading towards the Yemeni port city of Hudaidah.

A senior Iranian naval commander said on Tuesday the country’s Navy will protect the Yemen-bound cargo ship.

“The 34th naval fleet of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s army, which is currently present in the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab strait, has been tasked with protecting the ship carrying Iran’s humanitarian aid [to Yemen],” Rear Admiral Hossein Azad said on Tuesday.

Saudi aggression

Saudi Arabia’s pounding of Yemen continues unabated despite the declaration of a five-day ceasefire in the war-wracked country.

Early on Thursday, Saudi fighter jets hit border areas in the Yemeni northwestern provinces of Hajjah and Sa’ada.

The Arabic-language al-Masirah satellite television network said on Wednesday that Saudi warplanes hit the district of Malahidh in Sa’ada.

Saudi warplanes also poured bombs on a prison and residential areas in Hajjah late on Tuesday, killing at least 15 people and injuring 25 others.

Saudi Arabia started its military aggression against Yemen on March 26 – without a UN mandate – in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which currently controls Sana’a and other major provinces, and to restore power to Yemen’s fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who is a stalwart ally of Riyadh.

According to the latest UN figures, the Saudi military campaign has so far claimed the lives of over 1,400 people and injured close to 6,000, roughly half of whom have been civilians.