Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Official Web Site
Aden – Saba:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates expresses its strong condemnation of the statement issued by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding Yemen, with its misleading allegations and blatant interference in the internal affairs of the Republic of Yemen — a transparent attempt to provide political and media cover for the terrorist Houthi militia, and to disclaim the Iranian regime’s responsibility for prolonging the war and deepening the humanitarian tragedy of the Yemeni people.
The Ministry affirms that the Iranian statement lays bare Tehran’s open adoption of the putschist militia’s narrative and its justification of the militia’s practices, in parallel with the findings of the competent Yemeni agencies that Iranian interference has evolved from financing, arming and training into direct participation in the planning and management of operations.
The Ministry regards this pairing of military support on the ground with diplomatic cover in international forums as further evidence of the true nature of the Iranian role in undermining the Yemeni state and threatening the security of the region and its waterways.
The Ministry rejects the Iranian regime’s exploitation of the blood of the victims of the Souq Al-Hadarah crime in Al-Wazi’iyah district of Taiz governorate, or of any other area, to promote accusations that contradict what the competent Yemeni authorities have announced, including their call for independent investigations into the Houthi militia’s violations of human rights and international law.
The Ministry recalls the Ministry of Interior’s announcement of the presence of 21 foreign experts working with the Houthi militia, including 14 from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and 7 from Hezbollah. Their tasks span command and control and the management of operations; work on ballistic missiles, drones and electronic warfare; the smuggling of military components; and the coordination of maritime operations, including the selection of commercial vessels for targeting — together constituting a fully-fledged general staff whose role goes beyond training to the supervision, planning and direction of operations, for which Yemenis pay the price with their lives, their security and their livelihoods.
The Ministry stresses that Tehran, by arming the Houthi militia and supplying it with experts, enables it to pursue its terrorism in Yemen — abducting, killing and terrorizing civilians, shelling cities and civilian facilities, and besieging and starving the population — alongside its repeated attacks on the territory of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on commercial shipping, and on navigation in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
This interference embodies a pattern the Iranian regime has long pursued in undermining the security of the region’s states: financing rogue armed groups that contest national governments’ exclusive authority over the use of force and over decisions of war and peace.
The Ministry recalls that the arms embargo imposed under Resolution 2216, and expanded under Resolution 2624 to cover the Houthis as an entity, encompasses weapons, equipment, technical assistance, training and financing related to military activities.
The Ministry affirms that Iran’s own interests, its security and the future of its relations in the region require respect for the sovereignty of states, the building of good-neighborly relations founded on shared interests and non-interference in internal affairs, and the abandonment of its policy of arming the subversive groups affiliated with it.
The Ministry stresses that the Iranian regime would be far better served devoting its country’s resources and wealth to improving the livelihood of the Iranian people and meeting their needs for development, services and employment, rather than squandering them on arms and smuggling networks and on destabilizing the region.
The Ministry notes that throughout twelve years of a war ignited by the Houthi militia with its backing, the Iranian regime has offered the Yemeni people nothing but missiles, suicide drones, explosive-laden boats and experts of destruction — while our brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have provided invaluable relief, humanitarian and development assistance, together with countless facilitations for Yemeni expatriates whose work and remittances keep millions alive.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms that respect for Yemen’s sovereignty begins with halting the arming of the militias, withdrawing the experts, and ceasing interference in Yemen’s national decision-making — and that Tehran’s professed concern for the lives of Yemenis requires, first of all, that it stop wielding the very tools that prolong their suffering and deepen the destruction.
