Justice Served to Yemen’s Saleh: Iran’s Velayati

“The plot hatched by (the United Arab) Emirates and Saudi Arabia to let Ali Abdullah Saleh stab (Yemeni) fighters and people in the back failed and he (Saleh) suffered the consequences of his actions,” Velayati said Tuesday, answering a question about the recent developments in Yemen.

He added that the Yemeni people, who have remained steadfast in the face of barbaric Saudi airstrikes, are vigilant to not allow “hypocrites who are among them under the guise of being allies” to lead the resistance to failure.

“Definitely, the future of Yemen will be determined by the decision that the Yemeni nation take,” he underlined, saying that the people of Yemen will be ultimately victorious just as the people of Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

On Monday, Leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah movement, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, said the movement has managed to thwart a major threat to the country’s security by defeating the plot hatched by former president, Saleh, and his militia.

Houthi said despite his early pretense about being opposed to the Saudi aggression, Saleh finally changed course and took sides with the aggressors.

Earlier in the day, Yemen’s Interior Ministry issued a statement confirming the death of Saleh during clashes in capital Sana’a.

Since November 29, armed clashes sparked by forces loyal to Saleh, have continued against Houthi forces that are at the forefront of a retaliatory war against the Saudi-led military coalition. Saleh loyalists accused the Houthi fighters of raiding their bases across Sana’a and beyond, an allegation that the Houthi leader has strongly denied.

Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies have been carrying out deadly airstrikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.

Over 14,000 Yemenis, including thousands of women and children, have lost their lives in the deadly military campaign.