Iranian Medics Urge ICRC’s Effective Relief Measures in Yemen
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Some 4,000 Iranian doctors, medical officials and academics signed a petition calling on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to take practical and effective measures to provide relief aid for the people of Yemen and stop a genocide in the wake of Saudi-led attacks.
The petition, signed by Health Minister Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi, a number of lawmakers as well as university professors, calls on the ICRC to perform its “primary duty”, provide relief aid for war-stricken Yemen and dispatch medical supplies for the Yemenis.
They also condemned Saudi Arabia’s “illegal, brutal and oppressive” military strikes against Yemen that have killed many civilians, saying such aggression is not only against “fundamental moral principles,” but also violates the whole official conventions on human rights.
“Severe shortage of medical and pharmaceutical facilities, the silence of international institutions and human rights circles and their disregard for such suppression and genocide have created very deplorable and catastrophic conditions for people of that country (Yemen),” read the letter, sent to ICRC Chief Peter Maurer.
The letter also calls on the ICRC to pave the way for the dispatch of volunteer doctors and nurses to Yemen to provide Yemenis with medical services.
This is while Iran’s cargo ship “Nejat” (Rescue), loaded with 2500 tons of humanitarian supplies, is destined for Yemen and will reportedly dock in the Arab country’s Hodeida port on May 21.
It has been loaded with 700 tons of flour, 1200 tons of rice, 400 tons of canned food, 50 tons of medication and health products, and 50 tons of mineral water.
The ship's journey comes after Yemen agreed to a five-day truce proposed by Saudi Arabia.
On March 26, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies began to launch deadly air strikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to the fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
According to Yemen's Freedom House Foundation, the Saudi airstrikes have claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Yemeni people so far while more than 6,887 others have been wounded.
