Iranian Cleric Decries Silence on Saudi Crimes in Yemen
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Tehran’s provisional Friday Prayers leader denounced a muted response by the so-called advocates of human rights, including the inept UN, to the gruesome Saudi airstrike that killed scores of civilians in Yemen last week, saying the attack amounts to a war crime.
If there was an evenhanded international court of justice, the Saudi regime would be convicted of war crimes for the fatal aerial attack on a funeral ceremony in Sana’a that killed and wounded hundreds of people last week, Ayatollah Seyed Ahmad Khatami said in an address to worshippers in Tehran on Friday.
He further slammed the US and Britain for their pivotal role in the Saudi acts of aggression against Yemenis, stressing that Washington takes command of a Saudi-led war that has butchered people of Yemen for the past 18 months.
Ayatollah Khatami also lashed out at the international human rights organizations for remaining silent on the tragic Saudi crimes against Yemen.
Taking a swipe at the outgoing UN chief for his surprising move to drop the Saudi-led military coalition against Yemen from a children's rights blacklist in June and for merely offering condolences after the Saudi airstrike, the cleric said the nations had better go for a genuine United Nations rather than the current “arrogant organization.”
On October 8, Saudi-led warplanes targeted a crowded funeral ceremony in Sana’a, killing over 140 people and injuring more than 600 others.
Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies have been launching 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 UN estimates, over 10,000 Yemenis, including 4,000 women and children, have lost their lives in the military campaign.
