Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said on Sunday evening that all specialized and responsible organizations are expected to take urgent action to prevent the continuation of appalling humanitarian tragedies in Yemen.
She condemned the intensification of Saudi Arabia’s airstrikes against Yemen and Riyadh’s bombardment of residential and populated areas, particularly in the northern parts of the country, dubbing such measures as ‘genocide’ and 'in full contradiction with international regulations.’
Stressing that Saudi Arabia has resorted to unconventional weapons over the past 40 days with the purpose of increasing the death toll, Afkham called upon the United Nations to play a more effective role in putting an end to the aggression against the innocent Yemenis and facilitate relief operations in the impoverished state.
Afkham maintained that a new path has been chosen for sending Iran’s humanitarian aid, expressing hope the contributions would be distributed among the Yemeni people without any issue or hindrance.
Meanwhile, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Johannes van der Klaauw issued a statement on Saturday, condemning Saudi’s indiscriminate bombing of populated areas as a ‘contravention of International Humanitarian Law (IHL)’.
An Iranian cargo ship carrying humanitarian aids to the people in Yemen set sail for the impoverished Arab country on Sunday.
Last week, the IRCS dispatched relief aid to people in Yemen through Oman as Riyadh had earlier blocked Iran's humanitarian aid delivery.
Saudi Arabia started its military aggression against Yemen on March 26 without a UN mandate in a bid to expand its dominance over teh oil rich geostrategic neighbor by restoring power to the fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who is a staunch ally of Riyadh.
According to the latest UN figures, the Saudi military campaign has so far claimed the lives of over 1,400 people and injured close to 6,000, roughly half of whom have been civilians.