Iran's Shamkhani Calls Saudi Attacks on Yemen 'Massacre of Defenseless People'

"...This is not a proxy war but is the massacre of a defenseless nation, and (the Saudis' military campaign) will definitely end in failure," Shamkhani said in a televised interview with the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) on Saturday night.

He further rejected allegations that Iran is interfering in the conflicts in Yemen, saying that "Iran does not seek to invade any country, though this does not mean we are indifferent to (the plight of) the oppressed people of the region."

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 7,000 others have been wounded, most of them civilians.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Shamkhani said Iran has three red lines in dealing with developments in neighboring Iraq where Takfiri and extremist militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are committing crimes against humanity.

Any ISIL threats against Baghdad or the Shiite holy shrines, as well as their advance towards the Iranian borders "are considered the Islamic Republic's three red lines," he said.

Shamkhani emphasized that Iran's support for all Iraqis, including Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds, has helped "weaken the terrorist groups."

Pointing to terrorist groups' attempts to enter Iran via its western borders, Shamkhani said, "We have been able to push them back," and that Iran is watching every move of these groups, which are "now very vulnerable" in their fight against the Iraqi government.