IRGC Chief:
Saudi Arabia Following in Israel’s Footsteps
TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said on Monday Saudi Arabia is verging on collapse as Tehran's position strengthens, putting the kingdom in the same camp as the occupying regime of Israel over its military intervention in Yemen.
"Saudi Arabia is shamelessly and disgracefully bombing and mass killing a nation that is fighting against the arrogant system," Gen. Muhammad Ali Jafari was quoted as saying.
He was apparently referring to Yemen, where Saudi Arabia has been waging a month-long air campaign in order to return former fugitive president Abd Rubbuh Mansour Hadi to power.
Iran has repeatedly criticized the airstrikes and said the Saudi-led campaign is doomed to fail. Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has called the airstrikes in Yemen "genocide".
Gen. Jafari said the Saudi monarchy is facing collapse and called on his government to adopt a tougher stance toward Riyadh.
"Now that these attacks have taken place, reservations should be put aside," he said.
"Today, treacherous Saudi Arabia is stepping in the footsteps of Israel and the Zionists. This wasn't the case in the past and right now the Islamic Revolution's opponents are becoming clearer,"
Gen. Jafari says Iran’s ascendency is growing. "Every day we are witnessing the strengthening of the Islamic revolution's power and dimensions outside. Enemies and America have submitted to it."
The United Nations says more than 1,000 people have been killed in fighting in Yemen since March 19.
The Houthis, who have overrun large parts of Yemen prompting Hadi to flee to Riyadh, have demanded an end to the air war as a condition for resuming UN-sponsored peace talks.
Jafari's comments come after deputy foreign minister Hussein Amir Abdollahian said on Sunday that Saudi Arabia's decision to prevent Iran from delivering humanitarian aid to Yemen "would not be left unanswered".
On April 9, Ayatollah Khamenei too compared Saudi Arabia to Israel.
"What the Saudi government is doing in Yemen resembles exactly what the Zionist regime did in Gaza. This is a massacre, a genocide," the Leader said.
"Certainly, the Saudis will suffer damage," Ayatollah Khamenei warned.
Saudi-led bombing raids targeted anti-government forces in south Yemen on Monday, killing at least 12 people as fighting continued across several provinces, officials said.
The head of Iran's navy said warships would remain in international waters near Yemen as part of a 90-day assignment through July 10. Adm. Habibollah Sayyari told state TV they will then be replaced by another fleet.
Iran dispatched the destroyer Alborz and logistics ship Bushehr to the waters off Yemen last month. It says the ships are patrolling the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait on an anti-piracy mission.
Last week the Pentagon said a nine-ship Iranian convoy heading for Yemen had reversed course but Iranian officials dismissed the claim, saying the flotilla was continuing its mission in the waters.
The turning point appeared to be the U.S. navy's announcement last Monday that the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt had departed its usual position in the Persian Gulf and was to join other U.S. forces conducting maritime security operations in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden off Yemen's coast.
Iranian officials have never acknowledged sending a convoy.
He was apparently referring to Yemen, where Saudi Arabia has been waging a month-long air campaign in order to return former fugitive president Abd Rubbuh Mansour Hadi to power.
Iran has repeatedly criticized the airstrikes and said the Saudi-led campaign is doomed to fail. Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has called the airstrikes in Yemen "genocide".
Gen. Jafari said the Saudi monarchy is facing collapse and called on his government to adopt a tougher stance toward Riyadh.
"Now that these attacks have taken place, reservations should be put aside," he said.
"Today, treacherous Saudi Arabia is stepping in the footsteps of Israel and the Zionists. This wasn't the case in the past and right now the Islamic Revolution's opponents are becoming clearer,"
Gen. Jafari says Iran’s ascendency is growing. "Every day we are witnessing the strengthening of the Islamic revolution's power and dimensions outside. Enemies and America have submitted to it."
The United Nations says more than 1,000 people have been killed in fighting in Yemen since March 19.
The Houthis, who have overrun large parts of Yemen prompting Hadi to flee to Riyadh, have demanded an end to the air war as a condition for resuming UN-sponsored peace talks.
Jafari's comments come after deputy foreign minister Hussein Amir Abdollahian said on Sunday that Saudi Arabia's decision to prevent Iran from delivering humanitarian aid to Yemen "would not be left unanswered".
On April 9, Ayatollah Khamenei too compared Saudi Arabia to Israel.
"What the Saudi government is doing in Yemen resembles exactly what the Zionist regime did in Gaza. This is a massacre, a genocide," the Leader said.
"Certainly, the Saudis will suffer damage," Ayatollah Khamenei warned.
Saudi-led bombing raids targeted anti-government forces in south Yemen on Monday, killing at least 12 people as fighting continued across several provinces, officials said.
The head of Iran's navy said warships would remain in international waters near Yemen as part of a 90-day assignment through July 10. Adm. Habibollah Sayyari told state TV they will then be replaced by another fleet.
Iran dispatched the destroyer Alborz and logistics ship Bushehr to the waters off Yemen last month. It says the ships are patrolling the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait on an anti-piracy mission.
Last week the Pentagon said a nine-ship Iranian convoy heading for Yemen had reversed course but Iranian officials dismissed the claim, saying the flotilla was continuing its mission in the waters.
The turning point appeared to be the U.S. navy's announcement last Monday that the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt had departed its usual position in the Persian Gulf and was to join other U.S. forces conducting maritime security operations in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden off Yemen's coast.
Iranian officials have never acknowledged sending a convoy.