Saudi-ravaged Yemen in dire straits: Rouhani

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has condemned the ongoing Saudi military aggression against Yemen, saying the Yemeni people are going through “utterly deplorable” times.

“The status quo in Yemen is utterly deplorable. An oppressed and innocent nation which does not have a very good economic situation is being bombarded by Saudi Arabia,” Rouhani told reporters in Tehran on Monday upon his arrival from a six-day official visit to three Southeast Asian countries.It is “really unbelievable” that Saudi Arabia continues to kill the Muslim people of Yemen, particularly women and children “without any reason,” he added.

Rouhani made the remarks in reaction to the recent bloody Saudi airstrike on the Yemeni capital of Sana’a which killed more than 140 people and wounded over 525.

The tragedy took place on Saturday when a Saudi airstrike hit a community hall in south of the capital, where a funeral for the father of Interior Minister Jalal al-Roweishan was being held.

The death toll was one of the largest in a single incident since March 2015, when the Riyadh regime began its deadly campaign to crush the Yemeni Houthi Ansarullah movement and their allies and restore power to the resigned president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

‘East, West Asia must bridge gaps’
Rouhani also pointed to his address to the second summit of the inter-governmental organization of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, on Monday and said, “If we want to see development and progress in Asia, there should be no distance between East Asia and West Asia.”

The Iranian president emphasized that these two Asian regions are interdependent and urged all regional countries to make use of their capabilities to improve security in order to fight terrorism and stop the illegal and inhumane acts of aggression.

Rouhani visited Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand where he held talks with senior officials of the three Southeast Asian countries on ways to improve relations in all fields, particularly in trade and economic sectors.

The tour was in line with efforts to make use of opportunities created after last year’s landmark nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries to enhance relations.

Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia – plus Germany reached the JCOA on July 14, 2015.

Under the JCPOA, which took effect in January, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related bans imposed against Tehran.