Iran urges int’l action to avert humanitarian crisis in Yemen

A senior Iranian official has warned about the escalating humanitarian situation in Yemen, which has been under Saudi military strikes for over eight months now.

Majid Takht-e-Ravanchi, the Iranian deputy foreign minister for European and American affairs, on Tuesday described the situation in Yemen as “grave,” urging the international community to take effective measures to send immediate relief aid to people in the war-wracked country.

Takht-e-Ravanchi made the remarks in a meeting with Finland’s Under-Secretary of State for External Economic Relations Matti Anttonen in Tehran, where the two officials discussed the latest regional issues, including the crises in Yemen and Syria.

The Saudi military has been engaged in heavy strikes against Yemen since late March. The strikes are supposedly meant to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to fugitive former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a staunch Saudi ally.