TEHRAN, Iran 

Iran's Expediency Council Chairman Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Saturday condemned a Saudi Arabia-led air operation to halt advance of Shiite Houthi group in Yemen.

"The air operation led by Saudi Arabia is faulty and dangerous, and unfortunately some Arab states are randomly bombing Yemen with baseless claims," Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted Rafsanjani as saying.

Rafsanjani stated these states were playing with fire, which he said would cause tension, insecurity and killing of many civilians in the region. 

Rafsanjani also accused coalition members of failing to take a step against Israel over its 50-year occupation in Jerusalem.

"They are now united against an Islamic country in the region," he said. 

Several Arab states have joined a Saudi-led offensive, which kicked off late Wednesday with a string of airstrikes against the positions of the Houthi Shiite militant group in Yemen, including some in capital Sanaa.

Saudi Arabia said the strikes were in response to calls by Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi for military intervention to "save the people from the Houthi militias."

Fractious Yemen has been in turmoil since last September, when the Shiite militants overran capital Sanaa, from which they have sought to extend their influence to other parts of the country as well.

Some Gulf countries accuse Shiite Iran of supporting the Houthi insurgency.