Rouhani Stresses Anti-Terrorism Cooperation with Turkey, Ending War in Yemen

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan underlined the necessity for the two countries’ cooperation in campaign against extremism, stressed that war and bloodshed in Yemen should come to an end immediately.
“Unfortunately, today we are witnessing insecurity and instabilities in the region. The two sides had completely the same ideas that instability, insecurity and war in the region should be controlled,” Rouhani said during the press conference in Tehran on Tuesday.

“We hope that we can fight against terrorism and extremism and witness brotherhood and friendship among the regional states,” he added.

Rouhani referred to his talks with Erdogan on the problems in Iraq and Palestine, and said, “We had detailed discussions on Yemen in addition to the aforementioned countries. There were common points between us and both of us believed that we need to see the end of war and bloodshed in Yemen as soon as possible and the countries’ attacks on Yemen should stop and a ceasefire should start so that different countries can send their humanitarian aids to Yemen after the ceasefire.”

“God willing, we will witness peace and stability in Yemen and under a Yemeni government,” he said.

Erdogan arrived in Tehran at the head of a high-ranking delegation earlier on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen for 13 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 906 Yemenis, including hundreds of women and children.

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.