Ansarullah Deplores UN Silence over Yemen Siege


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A member of Yemen’s Ansarullah expressed the movement’s surprise at the silence of the United Nations over the continued blockade of Yemen by the Saudi regime.

Al Mayadeen TV channel on Sunday quoted Ali al-Bakhiti, a member of the political council of Ansarullah popular movement, as saying that Houthis are surprised that UN does not show any reaction to Riyadh's continued siege on Yemen.

Last Monday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched the high-stakes Geneva negotiations with an appeal for a two-week humanitarian truce during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

However, Yemen peace talks ended in Geneva with no agreement, but the United Nations said it was still optimistic a ceasefire could be reached "pretty soon".

Referring to the recent talks held in the Swiss city to end a three-month war waged by Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies on Yemen, al-Bakhiti said, “If the situation does not change, what happened in Geneva (Switzerland) indicates the negative role of the UN.”

He went on to say that UN envoy has surrendered to the pressures and lacks the required qualifications for Geneva talks.

Al-Bakhiti also explained about the reasons behind the failure of Geneva talks, and blamed certain efforts to take advantage of the humanitarian ceasefire for achieving political objectives for the failure.

“Although the ceasefire is not to the benefit of Ansarullah, the Riyadh-based group is opposed to it,” he added.

He also reaffirmed that Ansraullah movement is ready for dialog, ceasefire, and anything that benefits the people of Yemen.

On March 26, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies began to launch deadly airstrikes 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 Health Ministry, the airstrikes have killed more than 2,300 people, including 229 women and 411 children. More than 8,000 others have been also injured in the attacks, including 581 women and 766 children.

The Saudi-led aerial strikes have targeted 61 hospitals and 13 ambulances.