Ceasefire, Dialogue Sole Option in Yemen: UN Envoy
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The United Nations special envoy to Yemen said the humanitarian situation in the Arab country has so gravely deteriorated under more than three months of Saudi-led military attacks that a ceasefire and political dialogues appear to be the only option to end the crisis there.
All parties should join hands to help find a way out of the crisis in Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a telephone conversation with Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Sunday.
The UN envoy also hailed Iran's contribution to the efforts for putting an immediate end to the war in Yemen and relieving the pains of its people.
For his part, Amir Abdollahian slammed Saudi Arabia's aggression on Yemen as a strategic mistake, saying it will only result in the spread of terrorism and insecurity across the Persian Gulf region.
"The Islamic Republic believes that Yemeni groups and parties can reach a sustainable agreement under the supervision of the United Nations," the Iranian diplomat added.
On March 26, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies began to launch deadly air strikes against Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to the fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
According to a civil coalition monitoring Saudi Arabia's crimes, over 3050 people, including 722 children and 532 women, have been killed during more than 100 days of Saudi-led military strikes on the Arab country. More than 8,000 others have been also injured in the attacks, including 581 women and 766 children.
The Saudi-led aerial strikes have targeted 61 hospitals and 13 ambulances.
Yemen's health ministry, meanwhile, says health conditions have deteriorated in the country. It says some 20,000 people have caught malaria, with some infected children having died due to lack of medication.
