LAS Urges Iran To Withdraw From Yemen, Blames Houthis For Humanitarian Crisis

CAIRO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th September, 2019) The League of Arab States (LAS) urged Iran to stop its interference in the Yemeni conflict and accused the Ansar Allah movement of deepening the humanitarian crisis in the country, LAS Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on Tuesday.

"We call on Iran to stop providing the Houthi militants with money and weapons," Aboul Gheit said during a LAS ministerial meeting.

Regarding the confrontations between the government forces and the Southern Transitional Council (STC), the LAS secretary-general emphasized that the new divisions threatened the country's integrity.

"We welcome Saudi Arabia's call for dialogue and welcome the response of other parties," he concluded.

The armed conflict in Yemen between government forces, led by President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi, and the Houthis has been ongoing since 2015. The United Nations has repeatedly called the Yemeni conflict the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with an estimated 24 million people � more than 80 percent of the country's population � currently in need of aid.

The STC and the Yemeni government previously fought together against the Houthi movement. However, in August, the STC captured the Maashiq presidential palace in Aden and defeated their former allies. The government reclaimed the city but then lost control of it again. The UAE has been repeatedly accused of supporting the separatist organization.