Iran urges intl. action to halt Saudi offensive in Yemen

Iran has urged the international community to intervene and stop the Saudi war on Yemen, where an ongoing offensive against the Mediterranean port of Hudaydah has put the country on the brink of famine.  

Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi told reporters in Tehran Monday that Iran is in contact with the regional and European governments in order to find a way to send relief aid and other humanitarian assistance to Yemen. 

"The international community should understand the Yemeni people’s difficult conditions and the international organizations and the UN should make enough effort to end the aggression against the oppressed Yemeni people,” he said. 

Hudaydah is a lifeline for the majority of Yemen's population because it is where most of the international humanitarian aid arrives for distribution, including among about eight million people who are at risk of starvation.

The Saudi war and its blockade have left 22 million people in need of humanitarian aid. It has created the world's largest food emergency and led to a cholera outbreak that is thought to have killed 2,290 people.

Qassemi said Iran has been trying "to relay the voice of the aggrieved people and the victims of the tragedy of the Saudi aggression" to the world and "looking for a mechanism to stop the aggression and provide for possible shipment of humanitarian aid" to Yemen.    

Saudi Arabia and its allies have been attacking Yemen since 2015. The invasion, which seeks to restore power to Yemen’s former Saudi-backed regime, has killed and injured more than 600,000 people, according to Yemen’s Health Ministry.

EU-US trade war

Qassemi also commented on US tariffs on European steel and aluminum, which have prompted Europe to respond by imposing additional tariffs on more than $3 billion worth of American exports to the continent.

“Today, we are witnessing numerous complexities in the United States’ ties with other countries and international organizations,” he said.

Asked if the reciprocal measures had any influences on the Islamic Republic, the official said it was yet early for the country to comment on their potential effects.

Tehran, he said, had to wait and see if the US behavior would change Europe’s relations with other countries.

ICJ to hear Iran case against US

The spokesman said the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was to hold a hearing in October on a case launched by Iran against the United States.

Last June, Iran filed the lawsuit, demanding compensation over the seizure of the country's assets by the US Supreme Court.

On April 20, 2017, the court had ruled that about $2 billion in frozen Iranian assets had to be turned over to American families of people killed in the 1983 bombing of a US Marine Corps barracks in the Lebanese capital of Beirut and other attacks blamed on Iran.

Tehran has long rejected allegations of involvement in the Beirut bombing or any other attack.

“After the hearing, we should see where the process of the complaint will lead to,” Qassemi said.

“This issue is one which Iran seriously pursues to restore its rights,” he added. 

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