Iranian Commander Foresees Heavy Defeat for Saudi Army in Yemen

The Saudi army will sustain a crushing defeat in its invasion of Yemen, Iranian Ground Force Commander Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan said, warning of the devastating consequences of the current war for Riyadh.
“The aggressors that attacked Yemen today will certainly fail,” Pourdastan told reporters in a press conference in Tehran on Sunday.

Denouncing Riyadh’s airstrikes on Yemen, he advised the Saudi army to stop its military aggression before experiencing “a heavy defeat”.

“The Saudi army is a hired army (of mercenaries) and now that no bullet has yet been fired at it, we see the symptoms of defeat in them already, let alone the day when a few firecrackers blast in Riyadh,” Pourdastan said sarcastically.

In relevant remarks on Thursday, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei warned the Saudi rulers of the dire consequences of continued war against the Muslim people of Yemen.

“The Saudis will definitely be struck back in this issue and their nose will be rubbed against the ground (they will be defeated),” Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing a large number of Iranians in Tehran.

“This action (of the Saudis) is not acceptable in the region and I warn that they will certainly lose interests,” he added.

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the Saudis used to show more self-restraint and sobriety in their foreign policy, but now the affairs in the Arab country are controlled by a number of inexperienced young people who want to show savagery instead of patience and self-restraint, warning that the present trend of policy in Riyadh will certainly harm the Saudi officials.

Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen for 18 days now to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi-led aggression has so far killed at least 1,026 Yemenis, including hundreds of women and children. The war has also wounded over 2,242 people.

Hadi stepped down in January and refused to reconsider the decision despite calls by Ansarullah revolutionaries of the Houthi movement.

Despite Riyadh’s claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi warplanes are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

Five Persian Gulf States — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait — and Egypt that are also assisted by Israel and backed by the US declared war on Yemen in a joint statement issued on March 26.

US President Barack Obama authorized the provision of logistical and intelligence support to the military operations, National Security Council Spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said late on March 25.

She added that while US forces were not taking direct military action in Yemen, Washington was establishing a Joint Planning Cell with Saudi Arabia to coordinate US military and intelligence support.