Iran Hails End to Attacks on Yemen as Positive Step

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday welcomed the halt to the Saudi-led military attacks on Yemen, hoping that other steps would be also taken, including the delivery of humanitarian aid to the war-torn country.

“The end to the attacks and the killing of innocent people is a positive measure and step we are witnessing in Yemen,” Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said in her weekly press conference on Wednesday.

Her comments came after the Saudi-led coalition, which has been bombarding Yemen for nearly a month, announced that its military operation “Decisive Storm” ended on Tuesday.

Highlighting Iran’s diplomatic efforts to end the war on Yemen, Afkham said Tehran had launched bilateral and multilateral consultations with regional countries since the beginning of the offensive.

“We have been opposed to military action against Yemen,” she underscored, adding that the solution to Yemen’s problems is dialogue.

She also noted that Iran proposed a four-point plan to settle the crisis in Yemen on the basis of a “realistic and evenhanded” approach to the regional developments.

Iran’s plan included an immediate ceasefire, humanitarian aid for Yemenis, intra-Yemeni dialogue, and formation of an inclusive government in the Arabian Peninsula country.

Afkham voiced Tehran’s readiness to contribute to the formation of an inclusive government in Yemen.

She also stressed that humanitarian aid delivery to Yemen is vital as “the people of Yemen are in desperate need of help and the humanitarian situation in the country is grave.”

The spokeswoman further said that Tehran is opposed to any foreign interference in Yemen, and that “the fate of Yemeni people should be decided by themselves.”

On March 26, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies began to militarily interfere in Yemen’s internal affairs by launching deadly air strikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to fugitive Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.

According to the spokesman of the Yemeni Army, the attacks killed 2,051 people and wounded 3,897.

With an end to the strikes, the Yemeni people and politicians say they have achieved victory against the coalition.

Zaid al-Zari, a senior Yemeni politician, said the Yemeni nation reached “a historical victory over the aggressors.”