Senior MP: Saudi Arabia to Submerge in Yemen Quagmire

Vice-Chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mansour Haqiqatpour blasted Saudi Arabia’s recent aggression against Yemen, stressing that Riyadh will soon experience a serious defeat.
“The disorganized Saudi army will be stuck in Yemen and no victory is foreseeable for it in that country,” Haqiqatpour told FNA on Saturday.

He reiterated that the Saudi aggression on Yemen is an extension of the US meddling policies in the region aimed at destabilizing the regional countries.

Another senior Iranian lawmaker also said on Friday Saudi Arabia’s recent airstrikes against Yemen have taken place with the US green light and coordination.

“It is impossible for us to think that Saudi Arabia has entered this war without prior coordination with the US,” member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Abbasali Mansouri Arani told FNA.

Reminding that the attacks started after Al-Qaeda sustained heavy blows from Ansarullah and lost major parts of terrorist-held territories in Southern Yemen, he warned that that Al Saud regime is seeking to disintegrate parts of Yemen to provide land for ISIL, Taliban and Al-Qaeda bases.

“Saudi Arabia wants to send its extremists to Yemen, but it should know that this will cause problems for both Saudis and the West.”

“They are attacking a number of countries in order to push their puppet governments to power or save such shaky governments in the region; they were in Syria and Iraq yesterday and now they are in Yemen,” Mansouri Arani said.

Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes against Yemen and killed, at least, 25 civilians early Thursday, one day after the US-backed Yemeni president fled the country.

Also, 15 more people were killed and injured in a second round of massive attacks by the Saudi Arabian fighter jets in the Northwestern Yemeni city of Sa’ada on Friday.

Yemen’s al-Massira TV reported that the Saudi air force targeted the Yemeni’s civilians who were shopping in a market.

In relevant remarks on Thursday, senior parliamentary officials in Tehran said Yemen has missiles which can destroy targets deep inside Saudi Arabia.

“Saudi Arabia is well aware that the Yemeni people and armed forces are capable of targeting the military bases of Saudi Arabia at a distance of 500 kilometers inside that country,” member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mohammad Hassan Asafari told FNA.

Asafari called on the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the UN Security Council to condemn the Saudi airstrikes on Yemen, and said, “Saudi Arabia would never dare take such grave action alone, and it has surely committed the crime after receiving a green light from the US.”

He also urged the Yemeni people to give a crushing response to the US aggressions in order to prevent recurrence of similar attacks in the future.

Also on Thursday, the Iranian foreign ministry deplored the airstrike, calling it a “dangerous” move in violation of international obligations for respecting countries’ national sovereignty.

“Resorting to military acts against Yemen which is entangled in an internal crisis and fighting terrorism will further complicate the situation, spread the range of crisis and destroy opportunities to settle the internal differences in Yemen peacefully,” Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said.

She underlined the necessity for implementing national agreements among the Yemeni groups and parties as soon as possible, and called for an immediate halt to air strikes and military acts against the Yemeni people and the country.

Afkham expressed concern about the spread of extremism and strengthening terrorism, and said, “This aggression will merely result in the spread of terrorism and extremism and will spread insecurity to the entire region.”

Five Persian Gulf States — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait — backed by the US have declared war on Yemen in a joint statement issued earlier Thursday.

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

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.

Riyadh claimed that it has bombed the positions of the Ansarullah fighters and launched attacks against the Sana’a airport and the Dulaimi airbase.

Despite Riyadh’s claims that it is attacking Ansarullah positions, Saudi warplanes have flattened a number of homes near Sana’a international airport. Based on early reports, the Saudi airstrikes on Yemen have so far claimed the lives of 25 civilians with more deaths feared, Yemeni sources said.