Iran stands for the resolution of the conflict in Yemen by the Yemenis themselves without outside interference. This was stated in a statement issued Thursday by the foreign ministry of the Islamic Republic on the eve of the anniversary of the start of the war in Yemen.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has always supported any fair and effective initiative in favor of lifting the [Yemen] blockade, establishing a truce and launching internal Yemeni negotiations without interference from outside in light of the efforts made by the UN special envoy and considers the political settlement worked out by the Yemenis themselves as the only way out of the crisis in Yemen," the Iranian foreign ministry stressed.
"The [Arab] coalition's destructive war and brutal blockade against the Yemeni people has led this resilient country to the worst humanitarian disaster of the century," the document points out, "and the direct and indirect consequences of this war have primarily affected innocent civilians, women and children, in the destruction of vital infrastructure and Yemeni economy".
"The coalition's aggression over the past seven years has not been limited to bombing and missile strikes, it has launched the worst economic war and blockade of Yemen, preventing the flow of food, fuel and other essential goods there," the statement said. According to Brigadier General Yahya Sarya of the Yemeni rebel movement Ansar Allah (Houthis), the Saudi-led Arabian coalition has carried out about 275,000 airstrikes in Yemen over seven years.
In Yemen, the confrontation between government forces and the Houthis has been ongoing since August 2014. It reached its most active phase with the invasion of the country in March 2015 by the Saudi-led coalition. Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar supported the operation against the rebels that had gained control of a large part of Yemen, called Determined Storm. They were joined by Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan and Sudan.
The first attacks on Houthis' positions began on the evening of March 25, 2015, with airstrikes by the Saudi Air Force in different parts of the country, including the capital. However, the official starting point of the war is March 26, 2015, when Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud authorized a campaign against the rebels at midnight. Later, it was announced that Determined Storm had ended and another operation, "Renewal of Hope," was launched. According to the UN, more than 24 million Yemenis, about 80 percent of the population, are in need of humanitarian assistance, and the number of internally displaced persons exceeds 3 million.
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Based on materials from TASS