TEHRAN

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Wednesday urged western capitals to stop providing arms to a Saudi-led coalition which for the past four years has waged a devastating war on Yemen’s Houthi rebel group.

Speaking via Twitter, Zarif criticized the coalition, which has continued to operate against the Houthis in tandem with Yemen’s Aden-based government.

“Western publics & legislatures demand an end to [the] humanitarian disaster that is the Saudi-Emirati war on Yemen,” he said.

“But their governments provide ever more weapons used to perpetrate war crimes,” the Iranian FM asserted.

He added: “Time & again our offers of [a] political way out have been rebuffed. This evil cycle must stop.”

Since 2015, a year after the Houthis overran much of Yemen, the Saudi-led coalition has pounded rebel positions across the impoverished country, causing numerous civilian casualties and laying waste to vital infrastructure.

* Writing by Sibel Morrow