Iran’s foreign minister has stressed the need for an end to Saudi-led attacks against Yemen and a political process to resolve the conflict there, saying the world community has a “moral responsibility” to help bring an end to the tragedy unfolding in the war-torn country and hold the aggressors accountable.
Mohammad Javad Zarif was replying on Monday to an earlier tweet by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, which said Yemen was “in imminent danger of the worst famine” the world has seen in decades and called for “immediate action.”
The UN chief had also said, “I urge all those with influence to act urgently on these issues to stave off catastrophe, and I also request that everyone avoids taking any action that could make the already dire situation even worse.”
In response, the Iranian foreign minister highlighted the global community’s responsibility to help facilitate an end to the Saudi-led war on Yemen.
“Enough is enough! It is a moral responsibility, long overdue, for int’l community to end #Yemen tragedy. And hold invaders—and their masters trading Yemeni lives for $—to account,” Zarif wrote in response to the UN chief’s remarks.
“Only viable path is ceasefire+end to bombardments; urgent humanitarian aid; and political talks,” the chief Iranian diplomat pointed out.
Enough is enough!
It is a moral responsibility, long overdue, for int’l community to end #Yemen tragedy. And hold invaders—and their masters trading Yemeni lives for $—to account.
Only viable path is ceasefire+end to bombardments; urgent humanitarian aid; and political talks.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) November 23, 2020
UNICEF: Millions of Yemeni children’s lives at high risk
Meanwhile, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) also warned that the lives of millions of Yemeni children are at great risk as a result of the continuing conflict there.
“As Yemen slowly inches towards what the UN Secretary-General has described as potentially ‘the worst famine in decades,’ the risk to children’s lives is higher than ever. The warning signs have been clear for far too long,” UNICEF said in a statement on Monday.
It added, “More than 12 million children need humanitarian assistance. Acute child malnutrition rates have reached record levels in some parts of the country, marking a 10 percent increase just this year.”
“Nearly 325,000 children under the age of five suffer from severe acute malnutrition and are fighting to survive. More than five million children face a heightened threat of cholera and acute watery diarrhea,” UNICEF said.
“Chronic poverty, decades of underdevelopment, and over five years of unrelenting conflict have exposed children and their families to a deadly combination of violence and disease,” it added.
UNICEF then called on Yemen’s warring parties to “keep children out of harm’s way and allow unhindered access to communities in need – as is their duty under international humanitarian law.”
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a military onslaught against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the popular Ansarullah movement.
The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than 100,000 lives for over the past five years.
The Ansarullah movement, backed by armed forces, has been defending Yemen against the Saudi-led alliance, preventing the aggressors from fulfilling the objectives of the atrocious war.
Source: Iranian Agencies
