Iran Says US Ending Saudi Support Does Not Solve Yemen War

Tehran:

Iran’s foreign ministry said Saturday the US decision to end military support to a Saudi-led military coalition can help fix ‘past mistakes’, but falls short of a solution to Yemen’s six-year war.

US President Joe Biden had announced on Thursday that Washington was terminating all offensive support for Saudi Arabia in the war, including related arms sales to Riyadh, in stark contrast to former president Donald Trump’s line.

Regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran are on opposing sides of Yemen’s conflict, with the former backing an internationally recognised government and the latter supporting the Huthi rebels.

“Ending the support for and not selling weapons to Saudi Arabia’s coalition, if not a political maneuvre, can be a step towards fixing past mistakes,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement.

“Iran supports any efforts by the global community to support Yemen and end support of the aggressor,” he said, while adding that the US move will “not solve Yemen’s problem on its own”.

Khatibzadeh said the “air, sea and land blockade” of Yemen and the “military attacks by aggressor countries led by Saudi Arabia” must end as well.

He hoped that the “warmongering countries realise their strategic mistake in invading Yemen and confess to their mistake”.

The war in Yemen has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, triggering what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.

The Iran-allied Huthis seized Yemen’s capital Sanaa and much of north in 2014, sparking a Saudi-led intervention the following year.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)