Speaking from Sana’a, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen Jamie McGoldrick said that “the lives of millions of people, including 8.4 million Yemenis who are a step away from famine, hinge on our ability to continue our operations and to provide health, safe water, food, shelter and nutrition support.”

He called on all groups involved in the conflict to “fully facilitate sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access, as required by international humanitarian law.”

McGoldrick said this means lifting of restrictions on Yemen’s Red Sea ports and Sana’a airport, which continue to delay aid from entering the country and hindering the availability of food and fuel.

He also urged parties to the conflict to ensure protection for aid workers and facilities, process visas and not interfere unnecessarily in the work of aid organizations.

The UN aid official also warned about renewed violence along the western coast of the country and other parts of Yemen.

In the statement, the official warned that fresh violence would “only lead to further devastation” for the 22 million people in need.

He said that a political solution is the only means to put an end to the suffering, and reiterated his call on any countries with influence to step up their engagement to protect civilians and put an end to this conflict.

“As stated by the UN Secretary General, it is in the interest of everybody to stop this war,” he said echoing António Guterres’s comments in recent weeks.

Saudis have stepped up attacks on Yemen, in particular Sana’a, following the death of their ally, Saleh.

Saleh was killed after betraying the Yemeni revolution and allying with the Saudi-led coalition, which has been pounding the country for months.

Yemen’s defenseless people have been under massive attacks by the Saudi-led coalition for the past three years but Riyadh has reached none of its objectives in Yemen so far.

Over 14,000 Yemenis, including thousands of women and children, have lost their lives in the deadly military campaign.

 Weighing 40 tons, it was distributed among Rohingya Muslims in three refugee camps southwest of Bangladesh after being airlifted to Shah Amanat airport in the port city of Chittagong.

Head of the Relief and Rescue Organization of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) Morteza Salimi said this first consignment of Iranian aid included medicine, foodstuff, tents and blankets.

Iran has prepared a total of 160 tons of humanitarian aid for the Myanmarese Muslims, hundreds of thousands of whom have crossed into Bangladesh since late August to escape a military crackdown.

The Iranian diplomatic delegation, to be led by Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Pacific Affairs Ebrahim Rahimpour, will be accompanied by a team from Iran’s Red Crescent Society (IRCS), Fars News Agency quoted Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi as saying.

The consignment of Iran’s humanitarian aid for the Myanmarese refugees will be delivered to Bangladesh, he added.

According to the spokesman, the Iranian delegation will also pay a visit to a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh’ city of Cox’s Bazar.

Iran is ready to build a refugee camp and a field hospital in Bangladesh for the Myanmarese Muslims with the permission of the Dhaka government, he added.

The spokesperson also noted that Iran’s ambassador to Thailand, who is also an accredited ambassador to Myanmar, is going to meet the Myanmarese Foreign Ministry officials to express Tehran’s stances and voice its concern about the plight of Rohingya Muslims.

As regards Iran’s diplomatic efforts to end the persecution of Muslims in Myanmar, Qassemi said Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will discuss the issue on the sidelines of the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week.

The Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar have long faced severe discrimination and were the targets of violence in 2012 that killed hundreds and drove about 140,000 people from their homes to camps for the internally displaced.

On September 12, the UN refugee agency said the number of Rohingya Muslim refugees that have fled recent violence in Myanmar has spiked to about 370,000.

Earlier, the UN top human rights official accused Myanmar of carrying out “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing” against Rohingya Muslims.

Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said the military’s “brutal” security campaign was in clear violation of international law, and cited what he called refugees’ consistent accounts of widespread extrajudicial killings, rape and other atrocities.