War on Yemen Archives - Iran News Daily

UN Says 20% of People in Yemen Suffer from Mental Disorders

reporter 1222 — Mon, 12 Oct 2020 11:32:56 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Twenty percent of people in Yemen suffer from mental health disorders as a result of the ongoing Saudi-led war against the impoverished Arab country, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Yemen said.

In a recent statement issued on World Mental Health Day, the fund said the figures are based on a study conducted by the Family Counselling and Development Foundation in 2017, noting that the number is likely to have increased due to the coronavirus pandemic and nearly six years of war against the country.

The statement added that the proportion of psychiatrists per population is insufficient, while some of the few existing mental health services have closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It called for “greater investment” in mental health this year since it is “most timely and opportune for Yemen as humanitarian actors tackle the reduction of funding and challenges imposed by COVID-19 that are hampering the scaling up of quality and specialized services for mental health.”

Earlier on Saturday, the Media Officer at the UNFPA in Yemen, Fahimia Al-Fateh, said the fund needs $9 million for the women’s protection program and psychological support programs until the end of 2020, warning that if the funding is not received by the end of the month, 21 centres which specialize in psychological support or providing services will close in several governorates, including Ibb, Ta’iz and Hadhramout.

Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia has been conducting bloody military aggression in Yemen with help from its regional allies, and using arms supplied by its Western backers. The aim of the war has been to bring Yemen’s former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi back to power and defeat the Houthi Ansarullah movement.

Since 2015, over 100,000 people have been killed, according to the US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).

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Canadian NGOs Press Trudeau to Stop Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia

reporter 1222 — Sat, 19 Sep 2020 09:31:22 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Canadian NGOs demanded the cabinet stop the thriving arms sale to Riyadh, Ottawa’s second-largest non-US arms buyer, as the Saudi regime continues its unabated war on Yemen.

A total of 39 human-rights, arms-control, and labor organizations, among them Canadian branches of Amnesty International and Oxfam, have penned an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, sounding the alarm “about the serious ethical, legal, human rights and humanitarian implications of Canada’s arms sale to Saudi Arabia.”

Similar pleas were sent to the government at least three times – in March 2019, August 2019, and April 2020 – but were left unanswered, the signatories said, RT reported.

Canada’s arms exports to the Saudi kingdom have almost doubled since 2018, amounting to $2.9 billion in 2019, the letter states. Riyadh is now the largest recipient of Canadian military products apart from the US.

Stunningly, arms exports to Saudi Arabia now account for over 75% of Canada’s non-US military exports.

This goes on despite Canada being a full-fledged member of the 2014 Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) which requires parties to ensure weapon systems they sell do not violate existing arms embargoes or are used for human-rights abuses, including terrorism.

Ottawa suspended arms exports to Riyadh following the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, but resumed them this April, citing the need to keep thousands of jobs “not only in Southwestern Ontario but also across the entire defense industry supply chain, which includes hundreds of small and medium enterprises.”

The open letter follows Canada’s appearance on last week’s report by the UN Human Rights Council Group of Experts. The publication singled out several nations supplying arms for the devastating war in Yemen, which has killed more than 112,000 since its outbreak in 2014.

UN experts accused “third states,” including Canada, France, the UK, and US, of funneling arms to militants in Yemen, “thereby helping to perpetuate the conflict.” Canada was mentioned for the first time in the damning report.

Canada’s export of weapon systems to Saudi Arabia broke records last year, almost entirely owing to a $14-billion contract on the delivery of light armored vehicles (LAVs) to the kingdom’s military. Nearly all LAVs are being assembled in London, Ontario at a factory belonging to US-based General Dynamics.

The Saudi-led coalition invaded Yemen in 2015. Since then, over 110,000 people have been killed.

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Houthi Vows Reaction to Saudi Breach of Ceasefire

reporter 1222 — Sun, 12 Apr 2020 06:57:51 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – A Houthi Ansarullah movement official lashed out at Saudi Arabia for violating a ceasefire and continuing with military aggression against Yemen, warning the invaders to brace themselves for a response in the coming days.

In an interview with Al Mayadden, Mohamed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the political bureau of Ansarullah, threatened that the Yemeni forces would respond to the unrelenting Saudi-led military attacks and the kingdom’s violation of a ceasefire within the next few days.

He warned that an attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities would be a justifiable response to the Saudi acts of aggression against Yemenis.

Denouncing the continued attacks from the Saudi-led military coalition on Hudaydah, Bukhaiti said the aggressors will be the biggest loser if they continue to aggravate the tensions and clashes in the Yemeni port city.

He further stressed that any initiative that fails to result in a complete end to the war against Yemen would be a deficient plan.

The damages caused by the blockade imposed on Yemen are more extensive than the losses inflicted by the military attacks, the Ansarullah official said, warning that any initiative for the cessation of hostilities without a call for the removal of blockade would in fact legitimize the blockade.

In remarks on Saturday, Spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement Abdul-Salam described a two-week ceasefire that has been recently announced by the Saudi-led coalition as just another ploy aimed at covering up the Riyadh regime’s crimes against Yemenis.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in order to bring the country’s former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crush Ansarullah.

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 over the past five years.

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Saudi Spy Drone Downed over Sa’ada

reporter 1222 — Sat, 11 Apr 2020 07:32:55 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Yemen’s air defense units intercepted and targeted a Saudi-led spy drone over the northern province of Sa’ada.

The Yemeni troops shot down the Saudi drone as it was on a reconnaissance mission over the Razeh district in Sa’ada on Friday, Yemeni media reported.

The development came only one day after the Saudi-led coalition waging war on Yemen unilaterally announced a two-week ceasefire in the Arab country.

The spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement described the new ceasefire as just another ploy by the coalition to cover up the Riyadh regime’s crimes.

Mohammed Abdul-Salam added that the sensible decision for the Saudi-led coalition would be to stop the military aggression on Yemen and lift the crippling blockade.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi back to power and crushing the Houthi 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 over the past nearly five years.

The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.

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Iran always supports talks for ending Yemen war

reporter 1222 — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 09:04:10 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Mohsen Baharvand said on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic of Iran has always backed dialogues to end the Yemen war.

Addressing a conference on disarmament, he protested US unilateral policies, noncompliance with JCPOA and Washington’s ill-wishing moves, IRNA reported.

The US is a country as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council not only violates its resolution but also forces the others to do so, he said.

In response to Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister who criticized Iran for helping Yemen, he said that this is a war you started and continue it.

He also urged the Saudi minister not to blame others for your own mistakes and you have no right to behave the regional people as you wish and expect others not to answer you.

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Houthis censure UN medical evacuation plan

reporter 1222 — Tue, 04 Feb 2020 06:02:07 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Yemen’s Houthis on Sunday censured the UN medical evacuation plan as inadequate for thousands of people in urgent need of treatment.

“The World Health Organization said it will transport via a small UN plane only seven patients with their escorts per flight,” the officials said in a statement carried by Al-Masira channel.

“The number of people signed up for the UN medical evacuations plan is around 32,000 patients with serious illnesses,” Houthis official said.

Critically ill Yemeni children in need of medical care were evacuated from Sana’a on Monday, in what the United Nations said it hopes will be the first of many mercy flights, AFP reported.

Welcoming the start of the humanitarian airlift, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said that others were handed a “death sentence” when the coalition closed down the airport in Sana’a.

“Today’s move comes too late for thousands of Yemenis who died waiting to leave the country for urgent life-saving care,” said Mohamed Abdi, the NRC’s country director for Yemen.

“We hope that these medical flights will save the lives of other Yemenis. Many more are still waiting to get the health care they need.”

At least 32,000 Yemenis are estimated to have died waiting to get specialized medical treatment abroad according to the Ministry of Health in Sana’a, nrc.no reported.

The medical flights will transport 30 patients to Cairo and Amman with chronic diseases who cannot be treated inside Yemen.

Seven young patients and their families gathered at Sana’a airport, which has been closed to commercial flights since 2016, clutching their transport documents ahead of their journey to the Jordanian capital Amman.

“This is the first of what we hope and believe will be many flights,” UN Resident Coordinator for Yemen Lise Grande said as the first humanitarian flight was prepared to depart from the war-torn country.

“It’s a very important day, it’s a day of hope. It shows that everyone wants the people who need help to get that help,” she told reporters at the airport.

“The key is to have many flights, bigger planes, so that the people who need aid can get to the places where they will receive it.”

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths last month told the Security Council that “we are very close to seeing the first flight move 30 patients who are now waiting in Sanaa for their treatment”.

The move was among confidence-building measures aimed at ending a five-year war which has left tens of thousands of people dead and displaced millions in what the UN has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Houthis control swathes of Yemen since a Saudi-backed government fled the country in late 2014. The development caused Saudi Arabia and allies to launch an all-out war on the impoverished country.

The Saudi-led war has triggered the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with the World Food Programme saying that over 11 million people face a daily struggle to find enough food, and 240,000 people live in famine-like conditions.

In November, the coalition – which controls Yemen’s airspace – said that patients needing medical care would be allowed to be flown out of Sana’a.

One of the children waiting for the evacuation flight, Abdullah Abed, is suffering from kidney failure and needs an organ transplant, his father told AFP.

“Severe diseases in Yemen are many, and people need to travel. The United Nations must operate the air bridge regularly, send abroad patients suffering from diseases, open Sanaa airport, and end the blockade of Yemen”, Abed Ali Murshid said.

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Riyadh agreement only worsens Yemen situation: Iran

reporter 1222 — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 08:59:25 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran says a recent power-sharing agreement between warring parties of southern Yemen will only help Saudi Arabia tighten its grip on the country.

On Tuesday, forces loyal to Yemen’s Saudi-backed former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, and militants backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a deal, Riyadh agreement, to end their months-long infighting.

“Signing such documents won’t resolve Yemeni people’s problems and in fact all it does is give a boost to the occupation of southern Yemen by Saudi Arabia and its allies directly or through their proxy forces,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Wednesday.

Reiterating Iran’s position about forming a unity government through dialogue, Mousavi underlined the need to respect Yemen’s sovereignty, saying the people of Yemen “won’t let their country’s southern parts fell into the hands of their enemies.”

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said after the “Riyadh Agreement” that it facilitated a crucial step towards reaching a political solution to end the four-year war against the impoverished country.

“This agreement will open a new period of stability in Yemen. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia stands with you,” the young prince said at the signing ceremony.

“It’s a joyful day in Saudi as the two sides come together,” he added.

The two militant groups are allied in their fight against Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement.

Mousavi questioned the kingdom’s real incentive and advised bin Salman to accept Yemen’s peace offer if he really wanted to end the Riyadh regime’s deadly war against Yemen.

“If they are serious in their claims to resolve Yemen’s problem, instead of deciding on behalf of groups that have no power of their own, they should accept the peace offer put forward by [head of Yemen’s Houthi-run Supreme Political Council] Mahdi Mashat,” he said.

Back in September, Mashat said the Houthi Ansarullah movement would end all attacks on Saudi Arabia provided that the kingdom and its allies ended their attacks on Yemen.

The offer came almost a week after Houthi fighters conducted drone and missile strikes on two of Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities, in Abqaiq and Khurais. The attacks led to a halt in about 50 percent of the Arab kingdom’s crude and gas production, causing a surge in oil prices.

Mousavi noted in his remarks that “ending the war and the bloodshed and lifting the cruel blockade against Yemen was the first step towards resolving the conflict.”

The next step, he said, was for the warring parties to sit down and negotiate an agreement for the future of their country.

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UAE Pulls 200 Troops out of Yemen’s Aden: Witnesses

reporter 1222 — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 10:03:14 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The United Arab Emirates pulled some of its forces from Yemen’s southern port of Aden on Tuesday, officials and witnesses said.

Two officials told Reuters that an Emirati convoy boarded a military vessel at Buraiqa oil terminal near Yemen’s Aden refinery that had shipped out.

Four employees at the refinery said they saw a large convoy of military vehicles and three buses carrying around 200 troops headed toward the terminal.

Forces loyal to the ex-government of Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and the UAE-backed separatists are reportedly close to a deal that may help heal a deepening rift between the two sides.

Both the UAE-sponsored separatists and the Saudi-backed pro-Hadi militants serve the Riyadh-led coalition and have been engaged, since 2015, in a bloody war on Yemen aimed at reinstating Hadi and crushing the popular Ansarullah movement.

The former president resigned in 2014 and later fled to the Saudi capital.

Ties between the two sides have soured over a number of issues, including what the Yemenis view as Abu Dhabi’s intention to occupy Yemen’s strategic Socotra Island and gain dominance over the major waterways in the region.

The coalition has been struggling to defeat the popular Houthi movement since 2015 but has so far failed to do so.

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US Says Not to Ditch Support for Saudi War on Yemen

reporter 1222 — Sun, 09 Dec 2018 14:49:47 +0000

A senior American official said the US administration strongly opposes discontinuing its support to the Saudi-led coalition that has so far claimed the lives of thousands of civilians, including women and kids, in Yemen.

“Obviously there are pressures in our system … to either withdraw from the conflict or discontinue our support of the coalition, which we are strongly opposed to on the administration side,” said Timothy Lenderking, Deputy Assistant Secretary for (Persian) Gulf Affairs.

“We do believe that the support for the coalition is necessary. It sends a wrong message if we discontinue our support,” he told a security forum in the United Arab Emirates.

Last month, the US Senate voted to advance a resolution calling for an end to US military support for the Saudi-led coalition, including arms sales and intelligence sharing.

It came in the wake of the gruesome murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate on October 2.

The war on Yemen has so far killed thousands of civilians and destroyed the impoverished country’s infrastructure, exposing millions of people to starvation, lack of medicines and cholera outbreaks.

Some 8.4 million Yemenis are facing starvation as a result of the Saudi-led aggression, although the United Nations has warned that will probably rise to 14 million.

Three-quarters of impoverished Yemen’s population, or 22 million people, require aid.

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