Posted on 03/26/2015 2:43:04 AM PDT by piasa
Tehran: In what may intensify the Yemen crisis, Iran has termed Saudi Arabia's military intervention against the Houthi rebels as “dangerous”, reports said Thursday.
Saudi Arabia which had earlier warned to act in the wake of continued advance of Houthis, on Wednesday started conducting air strikes against the rebels which it considers as being supported by rival Iran.
Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies believe the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, are tools for Iran to seize control of Yemen and say they intend to stop the takeover. The Houthis deny they are backed by Iran.
Reacting to Saudi strikes, Iran Foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham condemned the air strikes on Huthi rebels in Yemen, Reuters reported.
Calling it "a dangerous step" that violated "international responsibilities and national sovereignty," she added that military action would "further complicate the situation, spread the crisis and remove opportunities for a peaceful resolution of Yemen`s internal differences."
Saudi's air strikes comes as Yemeni foreign minister had requested for foreign military intervention in face of rapid territorial advances by the Houthi rebels, which forced President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi to flee.
In comments made to Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, Yemeni foreign minister also requested to the UN and the Gulf Cooperation Council for a no-fly zone to be imposed after warplanes were said to have hit the presidential palace in Aden over the weekend.
As Shiite rebels and their allies moved southwards, President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi fled Yemen by sea Wednesday, officials said.
Hours later, Saudi Arabia announced it had begun airstrikes against the Houthi rebels.
The departure of the close US ally and the imminent fall of the southern port of Aden pushed Yemen further toward a violent collapse. It also threatened to turn the impoverished but strategic country into another proxy battle between the Middle East's Sunni powers and Shiite-led Iran.
Saudi ambassador to the United States Adel al-Jubeir said his country had begun airstrikes against the rebels. He said his government had consulted closely with the U.S. and other allies but that the US military was not involved in the operations.
The White House said in a statement late Wednesday that the US was coordinating military and intelligence support with the Saudis but not taking part directly in the strikes.
There were indications that others in the region would follow suit: The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain joined Saudi Arabia in a statement published by the Saudi Press Agency, saying they would answer a request from Hadi "to protect Yemen and his dear people from the aggression of the Houthi militias which were and are still a tool in the hands of foreign powers that don't stop meddling with the security and stability of brotherly Yemen." Oman, the sixth member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, didn't sign onto the statement.
In a statement from the state news agency Egypt, too, announced political and military support. "There is coordination ongoing now with Saudi Arabia and the brotherly gulf countries about preparations to participate with an Egyptian air and naval forces and ground troops if necessary," the statement said.
Arab leaders are expected to meet in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik this weekend for a pre-planned summit, which is now expected to be dominated by the developments in Yemen. It is not clear if Hadi will be able to attend the summit.
The Houthis said in a statement to reporters that Saudi jets hit the military base, known as al-Duleimi, and that they responded with anti-aircraft missiles.
With Agency Inputs
Rubio on Yemen’s implosion: ‘This is about Iran ... The Obama administration has a history of being wrong’
The fuzzy picture is becoming more clear, yes?
I wonder how long until israel is flying wing support with saudi sorties.....
I hope never. The Arabs aren’t trustworthy.
[and 85-90% of the world's Muslims are Sunni, IOW, Shiites kill twice as many per capita]
The battle for Yemen in the 1950s-early 1960s was between Nasser's Egypt and Saudi Arabia; now Egypt and Saudi Arabia are aligned, and both of them are already under attack by Iran (that's what the Morsi "revolution" was about). The Saudis have been bringing in Pakistani troops, and I'd be very surprised if the 150K deployment in Yemen isn't at least partly Pakistani. Yes, India beat Pakistan in each war those two countries have fought, but the Pakistani army isn't anything to mess with. Unless Iran wants to commit its own troops in Yemen -- and this is something that seems unlikely right now, but of course could happen any day -- the longterm survival of Yemen's Shiite-heads is doubtful.
I agree with your longterm opinion on survival of Shiites in Yemen, except, do you have any information on the differential birthrate of Sunni and Shia population in Yemen. I know there are serious discrepancies of Israeli birthrates—Reform vs. Conservative/Orthodox, Jews vs. Arabs, European origin vs. north African/ME. Meanwhile to get back to the fighting, here is an excellent link on current impact of this little war.
http://peak-oil.org/news/
The population of Yemen is 99% muzzie, nearly 65% Sunni, nearly 35% Shiite — although that last figure has been getting a slight boost from all the Shiite terrorists who have been infiltrating the failed state on behalf of the Iranian mullahacracy. By and large there’s little difference in reproduction rates and population growth among the two major Islamic groupings.
Peak oil isn’t a news source.
‘now Egypt and Saudi Arabia are aligned, and both of them are already under attack by Iran (that’s what the Morsi “revolution” was about).’
I don’t know if the rest is true, but that ridiculous claim in parenthesis is a hint that it is most likely a Sunni propaganda, aimed at foreign consumption.
To be consistent they should have simply put the blame of Jews as usually.
Your handle makes everything you post ridiculous. Hit the bricks.
I wouldn’t ever tell it in any other situation, but your screen name doesn’t make you sound credible, given someone should take it literally, too.
How can you make any sense when you indeed have sunk years ago?
It makes sense to percept mine the same way you do yours.
Stick with slaughtering civilians for Putin.
Iran calls Saudi air strikes on Houthis ‘dangerous’
Oh yeah. Your mother was a camel humper.
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