Yemen govt spokesman denies severing of ties with Iran

A spokesman for Yemen's Saudi-backed government denied a television report on Friday that it had decided to break off  diplomatic relations with Iran.

"The cabinet has not discussed until now the matter of severing diplomatic relations with Iran and no decision was taken," spokesman Rajeh Badi said, commenting on the unsourced report from state-owned Aden television.

Iran is an ally of the Houthi fighters who seized control of the country last year and forced the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile.

Saudi-led coalition forces, which have been battling the Houthis for the past six months to try to restore Hadi to power, said on Wednesday that had seized an Iranian fishing boat loaded with weapons intended for the Houthis.

Bahrain, a member of the coalition, recalled its ambassador from Iran on Thursday, a day after it said its security forces discovered a large bomb-making factory and arrested a number of suspects linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

Six months of civil war and hundreds of coalition air strikes have killed more than 5,400 people in Yemen, according to the United Nations, and exacerbated widespread hunger and suffering.

Rights groups have accused both sides in the war of carrying out indiscriminate attacks on residential areas. The Saudi-led coalition denies abuses and says it will acknowledge mistakes if and when it makes them.

The United Nations backed a Saudi-led resolution on Friday to support Yemen in setting up a national inquiry into human rights violations, having ditched an attempt led by the Netherlands to mandate an independent U.N. investigation.

 

 

 

REUTERS