Riyadh (November 7, 2017): The Saudi-led military coalition announced to close all air, land and sea ports to southern neighbor Yemen to stop flow of arms to the Houthis from Iran.
The move, which follows the interception of a missile fired at Saudi capital Riyadh on Saturday, is likely to worsen a humanitarian crisis in Yemen that according to the United Nations has pushed some seven million people to the brink of famine and left nearly 900,000 infected with cholera.
Quoting the statement released by the Coalition to Saudi state news agency SPA yesterday foreign news agency said, “The Coalition Forces Command decided to temporarily close all Yemeni air, sea and land ports.” Aid workers and humanitarian supplies would continue to be able to access and exit Yemen, the statement said.
The United Nations, however, said it was not given approval for two scheduled humanitarian flights on Monday and was seeking clarification on the coalition’s announcement.
The Houthis-run state news agency Saba quoted a source in the navy warning against the closure of ports and said it would have, “catastrophic consequences”.
The United Nations and international aid organizations have repeatedly criticized the coalition for blocking aid access, especially to north Yemen, which is held by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement battling the Saudi-led coalition.
Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies have made clear they view Iran as mainly responsible for the Yemen conflict, in which more than 10,000 people have been killed in the past two years.
In a Twit message yesterday the Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said that Riyadh reserved the right to respond to what he called Iran’s “hostile actions”. Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa also tweeted that Iran was the real danger to the region.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said Saudi Arabia was blaming Tehran for the consequences of its own “wars of aggression”.
On November 5 the coalition accused the Houthis of “dangerous escalation (that) came because of Iranian support” after Saudi air defences intercepted the ballistic missile heading toward Riyadh. It was brought down near Riyadh airport without causing casualties.
Related News:
