The deputy foreign minister stepped up diplomatic efforts aimed at defusing the Yemen crisis, holding intensive consultations with international officials on Wednesday.
In a telephone conversation, Hossein Amir Abdollahian and UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos discussed the need for the immediate supply of humanitarian aid to the crisis-hit country, ISNA reported.
"Unfortunately, due to continued (Saudi-led) military attacks which have made the dispatch of humanitarian aid to the country impossible, people in different parts of Yemen are suffering from the shortage of the basic necessities, including water, food and medicine," Amir Abdollahian said.
He also noted that Iran has made numerous efforts to send medicine and food through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to the Yemeni people; however, due to lack of cooperation on the part of Saudi Arabia, "such efforts have gone nowhere so far."
"The continuation of the current situation can aggravate the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen," he warned, calling on the UN to employ all its capacities and resources to help put an immediate end to the war in the Arab country.
Amos, for her part, emphasized that the world body has been considering the dispatch of humanitarian aid to Yemen since the onset of the crisis, but the failure to secure a temporary ceasefire has blocked UN's efforts to send aid to the Yemeni people.
*** Futile Intervention
Amir Abdollahian also held a meeting with his German counterpart in Tehran, in which he described the foreign intervention in Yemen as a strategic mistake, "which will yield no results for the intruders," reported IRNA.
Hailing Germany's positive stance on the conflict in Yemen, the senior diplomat said, "We expect Germany and other European countries to make efforts to put an end to the attacks against the Yemeni people and infrastructures."
He expressed regret that the wrong policy of using force and military aggression have been preferred to political solutions to address regional challenges and said, "The developments in Yemen, Syria, and Bahrain have political solutions."
State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office Markus Ederer, for his part, said Tehran's "constructive role" in Iraq's fight against terrorism and effort to bring about political stability is "invaluable".
Referring to the developments in Yemen, he reiterated that political means and national dialogue involving all Yemeni parties can provide the basic solution to find a way out of the present conditions, emphasizing the need to send humanitarian aid to the war-wracked country.
***Mire of War
Likening the war in Yemen to a "deep quagmire", Amir Abdollahian said the war can lead to dangerous consequences and irreparable damage and seriously threaten security in the whole region.
He made the remarks in a meeting with the head of Egypt's Interest Section in Tehran, Khaled Amare.
Referring to the critical situation in the region, he described Egypt's position in the Arab world as "significant and influential" and said as two leading countries, Iran and Egypt play a "key role in maintaining stability and security in the region."
He said Iran is concerned about security in Saudi Arabia and is worried that taking military action by Saudis can endanger the security of the whole region.
The Egyptian official also referred to extremist movements in the region and stressed the importance of close cooperation between Tehran and Cairo to help solve regional crises.
