TEHRAN -- Foreign Minister
Hussein Amir-Abdollahian says some executive bodies in Saudi Arabia are to blame for a delay in allowing Iran’s late ambassador to Yemen, who was suffering from the COVID-19 infection, to exit Sanaa, saying Tehran will lodge a formal protest to the kingdom.
Iran’s Ambassador to Yemen Hassan Irloo passed away of COVID-19 complications on Tuesday after being repatriated to Tehran for treatment.
Amir-Abdollahian said prior to Irloo’s death, the Foreign Ministry had been trying for several days to obtain a permission from Riyadh via a third country to send a plane either from Iran or another country to Sanaa to bring the diplomat home.
“However, the Saudi side was unfortunately very late in making a decision in this regard and some executive bodies of Saudi Arabia dragged their feet,” he said.
“We will formally lodge a protest in accordance with international conventions, and at the same time, we hope that Yemen will be able to get out of this war and severe humanitarian siege as soon as possible through a political solution,” he said.
Amir-Abdollahian condemned the military campaign that the Saudi regime and its allies have been waging on Yemen since early 2015.
“The experience of six years of war showed that the aggressors cannot achieve any victory through military means. Yemen must be left to the Yemenis themselves so that the problems will be solved through the intra-Yemeni talks.”
During his two-year mission in Sana’a, the Iranian ambassador made efforts to help find a political solution to the Yemen conflict, end war in the impoverished country and restore stability, security and peace to it, Amir-Abdollahian said.
A war veteran, Irloo had sustained injuries from chemical warfare attacks on Iran during Iraq’s 1980-88 imposed war, backed by the West.
The foreign minister in Yemen’s National Salvation Government offered condolences over the passing of the Iranian ambassador, the country’s foreign ministry wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
“The foreign minister (Hisham Sharaf Abdullah) conveys his heartfelt condolences to the Iranian government, nation and family of heroic Irloo over the ambassador’s demise,” it said.
“May his soul rest in peace and may God grant his family the strength and patience to endure this great pain,” the message added.
The spokesman for Yemen’s popular Ansarullah resistance movement also offered his condolences to Tehran.
“Our sincere condolences to the Iranian leadership, the dear Iranian people, and to the family of the late Iranian ambassador to Yemen Hassan Irloo, may God bless him and have mercy on him,” Muhammed Abdulsalam tweeted.
“We lost a wonderful friend who was an example of a successful and distinguished diplomat,” Hussein al-Ezzi, the deputy foreign minister of Yemen, wrote.
On Tuesday, thousands of people participated in a funeral in the capital Tehran for the late Iranian ambassador also attended by senior state and military officials.