Iran strongly condemns the aerial strikes carried out by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen's capital Sanaa that killed at least 13 children, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th April, 2019) Iran strongly condemns the aerial strikes carried out by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen's capital Sanaa that killed at least 13 children, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Monday.On Sunday, the Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes in the Yemeni capital and hit a warehouse near a school, killing at least 13 children and injuring hundreds of others.
The spokesman, cited in a Foreign Ministry statement, expressed deep regret over the international community's silence and negligence toward the crisis in Yemen.
Qassemi also condemned the countries that provided military support and sold arms to the Saudi-led coalition.
"The countries that created a humanitarian disaster in Yemen by providing arms support for the invaders are complicit in these crimes, and must be held accountable for their support," Qassemi said.
The spokesman also urged the United Nations to increase efforts to protect the lives of civilians that are being affected by the political crisis in Yemen.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) also condemned the attack on the school in Sanaa.
"The Norwegian Refugee Council is profoundly disturbed by attacks that killed and maimed school children in Sana'a yesterday. We are outraged by the escalating violence across many parts of the country and by the apparent refusal of parties to the conflict to engage meaningfully in peace talks," NRC's Secretary General Jan Egeland said in a statement.
Egeland urged the parties to the Yemeni conflict to revisit and renew the commitments made during the Stockholm peace talks and uphold their responsibilities under the laws of war.
Yemen has been engulfed in a violent conflict between the government, headed by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, and the Shiite Houthi movement, also known as Ansar Allah, backed by army units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, for several years. The Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request since March 2015.
The intense fighting between the two sides resulted in one of the world's most acute humanitarian crises, with about 22 million people in Yemen currently in need of some form of humanitarian assistance or protection, according to UN figures.
Last December, the warring parties attended long-awaited UN-brokered peace talks in Sweden. As a result of the meeting, the rebels and the government agreed on a ceasefire in the Yemeni port city of Al Hudaydah, an exchange of prisoners and the establishment of humanitarian corridors.
