Margarita, Venezuela — Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdulmalak Al-Makhlafi said that Iran is continuing with its interferences in his conflict-torn country, and urged Tehran to stop, Al Arabiya News Channel reported.
Makhlafi stressed Yemen’s desire for peace during his address at a preparatory meeting for the Non-Aligned Movement summit which started on Saturday in Venezuela.
Leaders from the 120-nation group have gathered for two days on the Caribbean island of Margarita, where Venezuela will take over the movement’s rotating presidency from Iran.
The minister said Yemen had to seek help from the Saudi-led Arab Coalition after Iran-backed Houthi militias and allied forces loyal to deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh attempted a coup in September 2014.
After Houthis took control over the capital Sanaa, the internationally recognized President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi had to move to Aden.
The Saudi-led coalition launched its military campaign in March 2015.
In a related story, the Yemeni Army’s Deputy Chief of Staff Major General Nasser Al-Taheri said in an interview published on Saturday by the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat that light and medium weapon shipments were seized on the borders, coming from Iran.
The United Nations said at least 10,000 have been killed in the Yemeni conflict as of September this year. The conflict has also displaced three million Yemenis. — Al Arabiya English
