Saleh escape third US failure in region

An Iranian lawmaker has described the departure of Yemen’s embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh as the third failure for US policies in the region in recent months.

On Sunday, Saleh left Yemen for Saudi Arabia to receive medical treatment after he was wounded in the neck and chest in a rocket attack on the presidential palace on Friday.

“Ali Abdullah Saleh’s escape was another failure for the US and Saudi Arabia, because he acted in line with the trans-regional strategies of the US and regional strategies of the Saudi Arabia,” Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh said on Sunday.

Falahatpisheh added that the fall of Saleh in Yemen was the third big failure for US and Saudi Arabia’s policies in the region after the overthrow of the Egyptian and Tunisian dictators, Hosni Mubarak and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

“The US and Saudi Arabia tried to change the course of the regional developments but even efforts to deviate regional developments did not prevent Saleh’s escape and the fall of the dictatorship in Yemen,” the Iranian lawmaker added.

Several Yemeni high-ranking officials, including Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Mujawar and Parliament Speaker Yahya al-Raiee, were wounded in the shelling, which also left at least seven presidential guards dead.

Yemeni Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has reportedly taken over as acting president and supreme commander of the armed forces.