Iranian Envoy, Algerian PM Urge End to Saudi-Led War on Yemen
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Visiting Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Morteza Sarmadi and Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal called for an immediate halt to the Saudi-led aggression against Yemen.
In a meeting in Algiers on Tuesday, Sarmadi submitted the message of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani to Sellal and discussed the latest developments in the region, including the Yemeni crisis.
The envoy expounded Tehran’s stance on the war on Yemen and called for cooperation among Arab and Islamic Countries, including Algeria, to help end aggression against the Yemeni people and start sending humanitarian aid to the victims of the war.
The Algerian premier, for his part, said his country’s position has been clear and stable from the very beginning of the war on Yemen, adding that Algeria denounces foreign intervention in the Arab country.
Before Algeria, Sarmadi had visited Oman, Iraq, and Tunisia on a regional tour in a bid to confer with the countries’ officials on Yemen’s situation.
He plans to leave Algiers for the Lebanese capital of Beirut and hold talks with the country’s high-ranking officials on Wednesday.
The diplomatic efforts come after Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies on March 26 began to militarily interfere in Yemen's internal affairs by launching deadly air strikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to fugitive Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
The Saudi-led coalition, including military forces from Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Egypt, Sudan, Bahrain, Morocco, Jordan, and Egypt, has killed hundreds of civilians so far.
International agencies have expressed growing alarm over rising civilian casualties in Yemen.