Middle East

Yemen deal to promote 'Saudi occupation' there: Iran

Yemen government, southern separatists signed deal on Tuesday to end their conflict

06.11.2019 - Update : 06.11.2019
Yemen deal to promote 'Saudi occupation' there: Iran

TEHRAN

Iran said Wednesday an agreement between the Yemeni government and southern separatists would promote the "Saudi occupation" of Yemen. 

"The Riyadh agreement between [AbdRabbuh] Mansour Hadi's government and the separatist council is incomplete and will not solve the Yemen crisis and its problems," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement cited by the official IRNA news agency.

"The Yemeni people will not allow foreign forces to occupy southern Yemen," it said.

Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said the agreement "does not provide any support to solve the problems in Yemen but comes in the context of promoting the Saudi occupation directly or through its forces to the southern part of the country".

The ministry said the first step toward solving the five-year conflict in Yemen is reaching a ceasefire between the country's warring rivals.

"The next step for the solution in Yemen is to hold a Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue to reach an agreement on the political future of Yemen," it said.

On Tuesday, the Yemeni government and the United Arab Emirates-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) signed a deal to end the conflict over several southern cities, including Aden.

The agreement states that STC shares half of portfolios of the Cabinet that should not exceed 24 ministers and ensures its participation in the government delegation for consultations on the final political solution with Houthis rebel group.

The deal also states that all forces that moved toward Aden, Abyan and Shabwah since the beginning of August will return to their bases and be replaced by local security forces within 15 days.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including Sanaa. The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

Since then, tens of thousands of Yemenis, including numerous civilians, are believed to have been killed in the conflict, while another 14 million are at risk of starvation, according to the UN.

*Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara

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