Iranian Cleric Brands War on Yemen A ‘Political Failure’ for Riyadh

The military attacks on Yemen just resulted in the humiliation of Saudi Arabia and its allies in the world, Ayatollah Kazem Seddiqi said in a Friday address to a gathering of worshippers in Tehran.

“The aggression was a 100 percent failure for Saudi Arabia,” the cleric noted, describing the military attacks on Yemen as a “political defeat” of Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia could not achieve any of its pre-planned objectives in the offensive against Yemen, Ayatollah Seddiqi underlined, adding that the war even boosted Ansarullah’s morale and spurred other Yemeni tribes to unite with the Houthis.

Saudi Arabia on March 26 launched a military campaign against Yemen with some its Arab allies. The coalition’s justification for the air strikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement was to restore power to fugitive Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.

Later on April 21, Saudis declared a halt to the month-long air campaign. But hours later, they restarted carrying out deadly airstrikes that medical and relief organizations said were killing hundreds of civilians.

Hundreds of Saudi airstrikes have destroyed military installations around the country and have killed or wounded Yemeni civilians.

Over 1,500 people have been killed in more than three weeks of fighting since the bombing campaign began, while more than 150,000 have been displaced.