Saudi Setbacks in Yemen Behind Anti-Iran Claims

Iran's Foreign Ministry dismissed as hackneyed and groundless the recent claims by Saudi Arabia against the Islamic Republic, saying the heavy blows Riyadh has suffered in Yemen are the reason for such allegations.

"Fictitious claims by the Saudi foreign minister are a result of [Riyadh's] major and successive setbacks in Yemen," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said on Friday, Press TV reported. 

He noted that Saudi Arabia's ceaseless diversionary moves and blame games would not "change the existing realities" and emphasized that the "Yemeni Army and popular forces do not and will not need any foreign assistance".

The spokesperson said the Saudi rulers must be held accountable sooner or later for their "inhumane crimes" committed in Yemen over the past two years.

"Leveling such allegations will not reduce their international responsibility for the war crimes committed in Yemen," he said.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran, as a powerful country in the region, which has always played a constructive and positive role in the fight against terrorism, does not need to interfere in the affairs of regional Muslim countries." 

  Futile Approach 

Qasemi urged the Saudi foreign minister "to change his tested and futile ways".

In a meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York on Thursday, Adel al-Jubeir appealed for the international community to address what he claimed was Iran's interference in the affairs of other countries in the region, particularly in Yemen.

Jubeir claimed that Iran is providing Houthi fighters with weapons and said the move is a clear violation of the UN Security Council resolutions.

Ever since Yemen's fugitive president, Abd-Rabbu Mansur Hadi, who is an ally of Saudi Arabia, was ousted in March 2015 and fled to Riyadh, the Saudi military has been heavily bombing Yemen and killing civilians to reinstall the fugitive president who is now based in Aden.

The Houthi Ansarullah movement has joined forces with the army and popular forces to defend the civilian population against the indiscriminate attacks of the Saudi military and its mercenaries.

The Saudi military aggression has claimed the lives of over 11,400 Yemenis, including women and children, according to the latest tally by a Yemeni monitoring group.