FM writes to UN chief on Saudi crimes in Yemen

EghtesadOnline: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki- moon expressed shock and indignation of Iranian people and government over Saudis' recent airstrike in Yemen.

News ID: ۷۷۰۲۶۵

11 October 2016

Iran’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Gholamali Khoshroo handed over Zarif's letter to be circulated as a document of the Security Council, reports IRNA.

The full text of the letter is as follows:

Excellency,

I have the honor to write to you to express the shock and indignation of the people and Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran over tragic and horrific air strikes by the Saudi jet fighters on a funeral hall packed with thousands of mourners in Sana'a, Yemen. So far a cautious figure by the UN humanitarian coordinator, Mr. Jamie Mc Goldrick, has put the death and injury toll at more than 640 people. This horrendous and heinous attack, which has once more displayed an utter disregard for human life by aggressors against the Yemeni people is another single incident out of thousands of similar ones in the past 18 months that have killed or permanently maimed thousands of civilians, including women and children, displaced more that 3 million and turned Yemen from deprivation to devastation.

Not only by Saudi Arabia, but also those who have supported the aggression by the Saudi-led coalition against Yemeni people should be held accountable for the war crimes perpetrated in Yemen over the past year and a half. There is no doubt that the Saudi attacks against Yemeni civilians and civil infrastructure wouldn’t have been possible without a full range of expansive assistance by certain Western countries, including through arms supplies, sensitive intelligence sharing, aerial refueling, joint planning, etc.

In view of the gravity of the situation in Yemen and the devastation caused by attacks against the funeral hall, the Iranian Red Crescent Society is proposing to arrange for humanitarian assistance, including medical supplies, to the Yemeni people and evacuating the injured to hospitals in Iran. I would like to hereby request your good offices to help make necessary arrangement for expeditiously dispatching an airplane with humanitarian supply from Iran to Sana's.

It would be highly appreciated if I could receive a prompt reply from your Excellency on this request.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest appreciations.