PHOTO: The Iranian warship Alborz, which has patrolled in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen’s coast (File Photo)
TUESDAY FEATURE
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Balancing Iran’s tougher rhetoric over the civil war in Yemen, senior officials have insisted that the Islamic Republic has no military presence inside the country.
Following a deadly Saudi airstrike on a funeral ceremony on October 8 — and amid subsequent missile launches at US warship and an American response destroying radar inside Yemen — Iran has stepped up its denunciation of both Riyadh and Washington. Leading clerics have accused the US and Britain of supporting “Saudi Arabia’s war”, hoping that the Saudis “will be punished as soon as possible”. Iranian media belatedly announced the deployment of a destroyer and support ship to the Gulf of Aden, off the Yemeni coast, on October 5.
See Iran Daily, Oct 15: “US and Britain Supporting Saudi Crimes in Yemen”
Iran Daily: “US and Britain Supporting Saudi Crimes in Yemen”However, the Supreme Leader’s representative to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps assured that Iran was not intervening with military forces in the conflict between the Ansar al-Allah (Houthi) movement, whose control of the Yemeni capital Sana’a spurred Saudi-led air and ground operations from March 2015, and the Hadi Government which has fled to the southern port city of Aden.
See Yemen Feature: A Guide to the Civil War
The conditions in Yemen do not require the IRGC to be present. We also have not received requests for help in this field as well. The IRGC does not have any plans for this either.
Saidi insisted, “The people of Yemen and Ansar Allah have the ability to respond to the ruthless crimes of the Saudi regime.”
The Supreme Leader’s senior military advisor echoed the remarks.
Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, a former head of Iranian armed forces, said Iran “does not have a military presence at all in Yemen.” He said Tehran had only dispatched “medical supplies” to Yemen and “politically supports Yemen’s legal government and people”.
The IRGC’s political deputy, Brigadier General Rasoul Sanaei Rad, added that the Houthis and allies were self-sufficient in defeating the Saudis, despite a naval blockade led by Riyadh:
Nowadays, Saudi Arabia has entered an economic war in Yemen. It has not been able to advance its efforts, however. The missile offensive of Ansar Allah and the Yemeni army has disrupted all of their calculations.
“We Foiled Major Pirate Attacks”
Meanwhile, Iranian officials said naval forces thwarted pirate attacks on two merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden.
The officials claimed that the Alvand destroyer and the Bushehr logistic vessel, deployed two weeks ago, saved two Iranian ships from three pirate attacks on Monday morning.
They said the pirates attacked with eight speedboats and later with 13 “well-equipped boats” south of Aden.
Judiciary Sends Message with Arrest Video of Iranian-American Namazi
The Iranian judiciary has sent a message — possibly to the US — with the release of a video of last October’s arrest of the Iranian-American oil executive Siamak Namazi.
The video was posted on the website of the Mizan News Agency, which is linked to the judiciary. It shows a confused-looking Niamak with his hands raised.
Now see Iran Feature: Iranian-American Namazi & Elderly Father Each Get 10-Year Sentences
