Iran Blasts Saudi Airstrikes on Yemen’s Taiz
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman strongly condemned the recent aerial attacks launched by the Saudi-led coalition against civilians in the Yemeni province of Taiz.
Marziyeh Afkham said the deadly Saudi attacks on Yemen’s residential areas and killing of civilians is “in contradiction to the international principles and norms of human rights.”
The condemnation came after Saudi-led fighter jets killed more than 130 civilians, including women and children, and wounded more than 150 others after shelling a residential area in Taiz on Friday evening.
Afkham also noted that the international organization are expected to exercise their responsibility and devise immediate plans to stop such attacks.
She called on the United Nations to “employ all tools to protect the lives and security of Yemeni civilians, particularly children and women.”
The Iranian spokeswoman underlined that continuation of military attacks on Yemen and siege of the Arab country have just resulted in the spread of extremism and activities of terrorist groups and al-Qaeda.
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 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.
Rupert Colville, the spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said on July 21 that over 1,690 civilians had been killed and nearly 3,830 others injured in the Arab country since March 26.