Iran: Use of US weapons against Yemeni civilians is a war crime

Iran has denied claims made by a senior US naval official concerning Tehran sending arms and missiles to Yemen’s Ansarullah Movement.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi on Tuesday rejected the allegations made by the head of US Naval Forces Central Command Vice Admiral Kevin Donegan.

Donegan recently claimed that the US and partner nations had intercepted five shipments of weapon from Iran which were headed towards Yemen.

Qasemi stressed that these false claims are being made as the sales of deadly arms to Saudi Arabia continue.

“Everyday, an uncountable number of lethal weapons, bombs and US missiles are dropped upon the defenseless and oppressed civilians in schools, hospitals, jails and homes of the innocent people of Yemen by Saudi Arabia,” noted Qasemi.

He went on to stress that these actions are nothing short of “war crimes.”

Qasemi also criticized Saudi Arabia’s reelection as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, describing it as a catastrophe and a bitter tragedy.

He stressed that Riyadh’s reelection in the council is even more “regrettable” than the Saudis’ atrocities upon its impoverished neighbor.

Saudi Arabia has been launching airstrikes in Yemen since March 2015. The war was launched in an unsuccessful attempt to reinstate Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who has resigned as Yemen’s president. The UN puts the death toll from the military aggression at over 10,000.

A basis for talks

Meanwhile, Yemen’s Ansarullah movement has announced that a United Nations-proposed peace plan could be used as a “basis for discussion” but it still contains “fundamental flaws.”     

The noted that the plan, proposed by UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, lacked in details and had timeframe flaws and also did not include a “total, permanent ceasefire” or refer to the lifting of the blockade against the impoverished country.

They noted that they would relay the objections to the UN envoy during his upcoming visit to Sana’a.

On Saturday, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, Yemen’s president who has resigned and fled the capital, turned down the UN peace proposal. Hadi said the plan “rewards” the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which is backed by the Yemeni nation.

The UN envoy submitted the peace plan to Yemeni warring sides during a three-day visit to Sana’a, with aims to end the conflict. Ahmed has also held meetings with the Houthis and the General People’s Congress to get their support for a return to a cessation of hostilities to allow aid deliveries.

Peace talks, which were held between Yemen’s opposing parties in Kuwait, ended in deadlock in August.