Iranian Foreign Ministry:
U.S. Behind Worst Humanitarian Disaster in Yemen
TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Iran hit out at the U.S. on Sunday, saying it is behind the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Yemen by providing arms and financial support to aggressors.
"The United States has caused one of the biggest human catastrophes in Yemen, as admitted by international organizations, through providing financial and political support and giving weapons to the aggressor forces,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.
His remarks came after Timothy Lenderking, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Persian Gulf affairs, claimed that Iran did not appear interested in a long-term peace settlement in Yemen.
Iran has been "keeping the flames (of war) stoked and the Saudis bogged down in the conflict” for years, Lenderking said at the third UAE Security Forum at New York University Abu Dhabi.
His claims came as a Saudi-backed delegation and Houthi representatives met face-to-face for the first time at peace talks in Sweden on Sunday.
Qasemi rejected allegations that Iran had requested to send a delegation to the talks in Stockholm.
"Since the beginning of the crisis in Yemen, the Islamic Republic has emphasized the need for Yemeni-Yemeni talks free from any foreign intervention and the ongoing talks in Stockholm are of a Yemeni-Yemeni nature,” he said.
The fresh round of talks opened in the Swedish town of Rimbo on Thursday under the auspices of the UN in an effort to find a political solution to the conflict which has raged for years amid Saudi attacks and Western military support for the kingdom.
The negotiations mark the first attempt since 2016 to end the war, which has also left tens of thousands of Yemenis dead since early 2015.
Qasemi said Iran has repeatedly expressed its explicit and full support for the United Nations' mission in Yemen to find an appropriate political solution as the only way to solve the crisis in the impoverished country.
"Iran's approach comes at a time when the United States has issued the permit for a devastating and inhumane war against the Yemeni people by adopting a partial, destructive and imbalanced policy,” he said.
Lenderking said on Sunday the U.S. government wants to continue support for the Saudi war on Yemen despite mounting criticism over the humanitarian crisis in the impoverished country.
Lenderking said Washington's backing for the Saudi war is "necessary" and that its discontinuation "sends a wrong message."
"Obviously there are pressures in our system ... to either withdraw from the conflict or discontinue our support of the coalition, which we are strongly opposed to on the administration side,” he told the security forum in the UAE.
Qasemi said Iran hopes the negotiating parties would adopt "independent and peaceful" approaches to put an end to any intervention by foreign parties and terminate the suffering of the oppressed Yemeni nation.
"The United States has caused one of the biggest human catastrophes in Yemen, as admitted by international organizations, through providing financial and political support and giving weapons to the aggressor forces,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.
His remarks came after Timothy Lenderking, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Persian Gulf affairs, claimed that Iran did not appear interested in a long-term peace settlement in Yemen.
Iran has been "keeping the flames (of war) stoked and the Saudis bogged down in the conflict” for years, Lenderking said at the third UAE Security Forum at New York University Abu Dhabi.
His claims came as a Saudi-backed delegation and Houthi representatives met face-to-face for the first time at peace talks in Sweden on Sunday.
Qasemi rejected allegations that Iran had requested to send a delegation to the talks in Stockholm.
"Since the beginning of the crisis in Yemen, the Islamic Republic has emphasized the need for Yemeni-Yemeni talks free from any foreign intervention and the ongoing talks in Stockholm are of a Yemeni-Yemeni nature,” he said.
The fresh round of talks opened in the Swedish town of Rimbo on Thursday under the auspices of the UN in an effort to find a political solution to the conflict which has raged for years amid Saudi attacks and Western military support for the kingdom.
The negotiations mark the first attempt since 2016 to end the war, which has also left tens of thousands of Yemenis dead since early 2015.
Qasemi said Iran has repeatedly expressed its explicit and full support for the United Nations' mission in Yemen to find an appropriate political solution as the only way to solve the crisis in the impoverished country.
"Iran's approach comes at a time when the United States has issued the permit for a devastating and inhumane war against the Yemeni people by adopting a partial, destructive and imbalanced policy,” he said.
Lenderking said on Sunday the U.S. government wants to continue support for the Saudi war on Yemen despite mounting criticism over the humanitarian crisis in the impoverished country.
Lenderking said Washington's backing for the Saudi war is "necessary" and that its discontinuation "sends a wrong message."
"Obviously there are pressures in our system ... to either withdraw from the conflict or discontinue our support of the coalition, which we are strongly opposed to on the administration side,” he told the security forum in the UAE.
Qasemi said Iran hopes the negotiating parties would adopt "independent and peaceful" approaches to put an end to any intervention by foreign parties and terminate the suffering of the oppressed Yemeni nation.