Yemen former president cause chaos: Iran official

A senior Iranian diplomat says Yemen's fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi has plunged the country into chaos by declaring a separate government in the southern part of the country.

“Sana’a is Yemen’s official and historical capital,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, said on Monday, adding, “Yemen’s resigned president should have stayed in Sana’a and shouldn't have plunged the country into the crisis with his resignation letter.”

The embattled Yemeni president fled Sana’a on February 21 after weeks under effective house arrest and went to Aden, where he highlighted his determination to resume duties.

Hadi (pictured below) stepped down in January, but the Yemeni parliament didn't approve the resignation which he later withdrew after leaving the capital. The Houthi Ansarullah movement, however, said that Hadi had lost his legitimacy after escaping Sana'a.

Recently, an aide to Hadi also quoted him as saying that the fugitive leader considers Aden to be Yemen’s capital.

“Those who support Aden for the purpose of the dissolution [of the country] and ignition of civil war are responsible for the consequences of the act,” he added.

The remarks come as some Persian Gulf Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, have already relocated their embassies from Sana’a to Aden.  

Amir-Abdollahian added, “Tehran supports national dialog in Yemen involving all parties, because the country belongs to all Yemeni people.”

He further evaluated security in Yemen as “acceptable”, stressing that the Yemeni people will not allow foreigners to interfere in the country’s internal affairs through being united.

 He said that Tehran welcomes “national unity, sovereignty, independence, and comprehensive national talks, in Yemen”.

He also said that Iran takes “maintenance of security and fight against terrorism as essential for Yemen.”

 Amir-Abdollahian noted that Iran considers the security of Yemen a regional issue.

The Iranian official also said that reports on the suspicious transfer of ISIL terrorists to southern Yemen contradict national and regional security.

In September 2014, the Ansarullah movement gained control of the capital following a four-day battle with army forces loyal to General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, the half-brother of the country’s former dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Before gaining control of Sana’a, the Houthis had set a deadline for the political parties to put aside differences and end the crisis, but the deadline was missed without any change on the country’s political scene.

A few months later, they dissolved the parliament and announced a constitutional declaration on the Transitional National Council following weeks of clashes with government forces.

The Ansarullah revolutionaries say the Yemeni government has been incapable of properly running the affairs of the country and providing security.

IA/NN

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