Iran-Saudi Arabia come to blows over Yemen

Saudi Arabia has denied being involved in a military offensive against Houthi fighters in Northern Yemen after Iran’s president slammed the country over the issue.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out at Saudi Arabia for its violent military offensive against the civilians in northern Yemen.

“Saudi Arabia was expected to mediate in Yemen’s internal conflict as an older brother and restore peace to the Muslim states, rather than launching military strike[s] and pounding bombs on Muslim civilians in the north of Yemen,” said Ahmadinejad while addressing the people of Ahvaz on Wednesday.

The Iranian president questioned why Riyadh had not used its military weapons against Zionists to defend Gazans during Israeli 22-day Operation Cast Lead which killed over 1400 people.

The Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, however, denied any Saudi involvement whatsoever in military attacks against the Yemeni Shia fighters, known as the Houthis.

“I don’t know where he (Ahmadinejad) got this accusation … that the kingdom is waging war on the Houthis,” al-Faisal said in Riyadh.

He added that even the Houthis don’t say such a thing. “The real accusation is that Iran is the one that meddles in Yemen’s internal affairs.”

Al-Faisal’s remarks, however, quite categorically contradict the news reported nearly on a daily basis by Houthi fighters over the Saudi air offensive against the people of Yemen.

Houthi fighters reported on Wednesday that a man and two of his daughters, civilian all and sundry, were killed by Saudi fighter jets in northern Yemen.

Riyadh joined Yemen’s offensive against Houthis after accusing them of killing a Saudi border guard and occupying two border villages on November 3. Houthi fighters have denied the claims.

Yet, the Saudi foreign minister made no response to Ahmadinejad’s remarks when it came to the Kingdom’s failure in supporting the people of Palestine, despite claiming to be the ultimate defender of Muslims across the world.

Meanwhile, in another speech in the southern city of Hoveyzeh on Thursday, the Iranian chief executive drew an analogy between the September 11 attacks and the Holocaust, and described West’s often-stated concerns over human rights, war on terror and democracy as an “explicit lie.”

“The Western states have always resorted to massacre of defenseless people, in order to infiltrate into special regions, under the pretext of the September 11 attack and Holocaust,” the Iranian president remarked.

“Some Western states invaded the region (Afghanistan and Iraq) in the wake of the September 11 attack, while al-Qaeda’s main hub is located in another country in the region, which enjoys huge oil revenues and good relations with the United States and Western countries,” Ahmadinejad maintained.

“There are some countries in the Middle East region that do not hold even a single election, don’t allow women to drive, but the US and European governments are supporting their undemocratic governments,” he continued.