Iran summons Saudi diplomat over obstruction of aid to Yemen

TEHRAN, Apr. 25 (MNA) – Iran summoned Saudi’s chargé d'affaires on Friday over the refusal of the kingdom to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Yemeni people who sustained injuries during Saudi’s airstrikes. Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned the Saudi charge d’affaires on Friday to protest Riyadh's interception of two Iranian planes carrying treated Yemeni women and children, as well as humanitarian and medical aid to Yemen. “Iranian Red Crescent Society had obtained the necessary flight permits over Oman-Yemen and was in perfect coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to return the wounded Yemenis who had been treated in Iran and also to send humanitarian and medical aid, but Saudi fighter jets blocked the two Iranian planes from landing in Yemen and forced them to return home,” said Head of Persian Gulf First Office affiliated with Iran’s Foreign Ministry. Stressing that Iran would continue its efforts to send the humanitarian aid to Yemen, the Iranian official noted to Saudi’s chargé d'affaires that what the Saudi fighter jets had done was a brazen interference in Yemen’s state affairs and also a violation of Yemen's airspace. Saudi Arabia started its military aggression against Yemen on March 26 - without a UN mandate - in a bid to restore power to the fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who is a close ally of Riyadh. According to reports, nearly 1,000 people have been killed during the aggression. Despite the announcement of Saudi government spokesman, Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri in a broadcast late on Tuesday that the first phase of the Saudi war on Yemen, which was codenamed as the so-called Decisive Storm against Yemen, was terminated, the attacks are still being carried out. The Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid and the Islamic Republic have been trying to deliver the humanitrain cargos to Yemen but the planes were not allowed to land by Saudi fighter jets. Iran Deputy-FM for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, during a phone conversation with Dr. Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), condemned Saudi Arabia for refusing to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemen, saying more serious actions were needed to enhance the humanitarian aid to Yemnis.