TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Muhammad Ali Jafari says Yemen’s enemies were behind former president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s armed rebellion and praised the Arab country’s swift quashing of the "coup against the holy warriors”.
Jafari said Saudis Arabia tried to stage a coup against Yemeni fighters and the Ansarullah movement, "but this conspiracy was nipped in the bud.”
The "traitorous” Saudis, he said, have been after destabilizing Muslim nations in the region by engaging in confrontation with them.
"Backed by the Americans and on U.S. orders, the Saudis are seeking to create division among Muslims in collaboration with the Israelis,” Jafari said.
Saudi Arabia and its allies launched dozens of raids on Sanaa and nearby provinces on Wednesday.
Yemen’s Al Masirah television station said Saudi Arabia bombed Saleh’s residence and other houses of his family members which are now controlled by the Houthis. Air strikes also hit northern provinces including Taiz, Haja, Midi and Saada, it added.
Saleh was killed on Monday while escaping from Sana’a to Ma’arib Province after launching an armed riot against the ruling council which controls the Yemeni capital and much of the country.
Saleh on Saturday officially announced the end of his alliance with the Houthi movement, which has been at the forefront of a struggle against the Saudi-led invasion of Yemen.
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said Monday that his Ansarullah movement had foiled a major threat to the country’s security by defeating "a conspiracy of treason and betrayal”.