RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Sunday accused Iran of blocking peace efforts in Yemen, slamming Tehran over support for the Yemeni rebels Riyadh is fighting against.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir accused Tehran of smuggling arms to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who control northern Yemen, and to the rebels’ ally former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.“Iran is destroying all attempts to find a solution in Yemen, which has led to the failure of all political negotiations between the government and these militias,” Jubeir told a gathering in the Saudi capital of foreign ministers
and military officials from countries including Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Senegal.
“These militias would not have continued operations without the support of the greatest sponsor of terrorism in the world — the Iranian regime,” Jubeir said.
A cholera outbreak has also claimed more than 2,100 lives since April as hospitals struggle to secure supplies amid a blockades on ports and the country’s main international airport. The United Nations has warned Yemen now stands at the brink of famine.
Sunday’s gathering in Riyadh comes a week after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met Gulf officials in the Saudi capital for talks that largely focused on Iran’s role across the region.
Missile programme
Also on Sunday, Iran’s president said his country would continue building weapons including developing missiles as the United States prepares new sanctions over its ballistic missile programme.
“To defend our nation and territorial integrity, we will build all the weapons we will need,” Hassan Rouhani told parliament in statements broadcast on state television.
Recent Iranian missile launches have triggered US sanctions and accusations they violate the spirit of a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers.
Signed by Iran, Germany, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, the landmark accord saw economic sanctions on Iran lifted in exchange for Tehran curbing its nuclear activities.

“We have built missiles, we are building some and will continue to do so because it does not violate any international regulations — not even the UN Security Council’s Resolution 2231” endorsing the deal, Rouhani said.

Under Resolution 2231, Tehran is “called upon” to refrain from carrying out launches of missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

Iran says all of its missiles are designed to carry conventional warheads only.

But the United States and France say the missile launches do not comply with the UN resolution. This month, US President Donald Trump said a “total termination” of the nuclear deal remained possible, after refusing to certify the 2015 accord and leaving its fate to the US Congress.

Also during the day, the head of the United Nations atomic agency said Iran was carrying out its commitments made under a landmark nuclear deal with world powers.

“As of today, I can state that the nuclear-related commitments made by Iran under the JCPOA (nuclear deal) are being implemented,” Yukiya Amano said at a press conference in Tehran broadcast by state television.

On Sunday, Amano met Rouhani, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation chief Ali Akbar Salehi.

According to the government’s website, Rouhani told the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran wanted to “cooperate with the IAEA long term.”

“We want to continue with the nuclear accord and avoid (the United States) disturbing it,” Salehi said.

“If the nuclear deal is broken, it will have unpredictable consequences.”

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Meanwhile, Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid Bin Daghr has commended the great sacrifices made by the Yemeni army and the popular resistance, backed by the Arab coalition forces, in order to restore the legitimacy of the state.

During his meeting with the Yemeni Chief of General Staff, D. Taher Al Aqili, he discussed the level of readiness of the Yemeni army to continue operations against the Houthi and Saleh coup militias.

According to the official Saba Yemeni news agency, Al Aqili presented a report on the victories achieved by the army on various fronts and the coup militias’ heavy losses.

originally published on the gulftoday.

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