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UAE criticizes Iran, offers military aid to Yemen

Shaikh Abdullah also said Iran was involved in creating a disturbing situation around the entire region -- in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria and Iraq.

Abu Dhabi: The UAE on Wednesday criticized Iran for destabilising the entire Gulf region by politically supporting the Houthis in Yemen and other militants in the region.

Addressing a joint press conference, Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE Foreign Minister, along with his Yemeni counterpart Dr. Riyadh Yaseen, said Tehran was deliberately destabilising the region by dealing in militant activities.

"Iran has attacked at us at our home in Yemen where our roots are. Tehran is fully and openly supporting the Houthi militants in Yemen, where they have taken arms against a legitimate government and the people and created a chaos. We will not tolerate this and will fight the Houthi militants at all fronts along with our brother states in the region, particularly the GCC," Shaikh Abdullah told the press conference.

The UAE Foreign Minister further added that all the regional countries were united in their support for the legitimate Yemeni government and their people.

"We have made all efforts at all levels -- from the UN Security Council to regional level talks -- to bring the Houthi militants to cooperate and stop their aggressive moves in Yemen with the help of Iran, but they have ignored all our these reconciliatory efforts. We are determined to provide all kinds of support -- from military to relief assistance -- to our Yemeni brothers," he said.

Shaikh Abdullah also said Iran was involved in creating a disturbing situation around the entire region -- in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria and Iraq.

On his part, Dr. Yaseen said the Yemeni authorities have confiscated lots of arms and ammunitions, including sophisticated weapons coming from Iran for Houthi militants.

"We have also arrested a number Iranian intelligence agency spies and agents arriving in Yemen to achieve their goal of destabilising the state and creating ethnic, sectarian and political differences among the people," he told reporters.

nissar@khaleejtimes.com