PHOTO: Supreme Leader with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday

Iran launched high-profile political moves over the crisis in Yemen on Tuesday, including a statement by the Supreme Leader and the announcement of a regional trip by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Two weeks ago, a Saudi-led coalition began bombing across Yemen, hoping to check an advance by the Houthi movement which had taken control of the capital Sana’a and forced President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi to flee in February. Tehran gives political and economic support to the Houthis, a Zaidi Shia faction, and there are claims that its military backing includes significant supplies of weapons and training of Houthi fighters.

Despite the Saudi-led airstrikes and reports of 540 deaths across Yemen, the Houthis have continued to advance, including moves into the southern port city of Aden where President Hadi set up an alternative government before fleeing the country two weeks ago.

The Supreme Leader used a photo opportunity with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday to declare:

The stance of the Islamic Republic with regard to all countries including Yemen is opposition to foreign intervention. Therefore, from our point of view, the solution to the crisis in Yemen is also the halt of foreign intervention and attacks against the people of this country.

Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Yemenis should decide the future of their country.” He added, “Today, the United States and the Zionists are happy with differences among Muslim countries and the solution to these problems is cooperation between the Islamic countries and taking practical and constructive measures.”

The US Government said on Tuesday that it is supplying intelligence to the Saudi-led coalition and will expedite arms supplies to the alliance, sayimg that Riyadh was sending a “strong message to the Houthis and their allies that they cannot overrun Yemen by force”.

Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken said during a visit to Riyadh, “As part of that effort, we have expedited weapons deliveries, we have increased our intelligence sharing, and we have established a joint coordination planning cell in the Saudi operation centre.”

Khamenei countered that regional countries will not benefit from trusting the West and the US: “Everyone can clearly see the outcome of the measures taken by the West in the region which is to the detriment of the region and Islam.”

On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Zarif flew to Oman for talks “on regional developments, including the Yemeni crisis”. He will leave for Pakistan later in the day.

Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, after a meeting with a Chinese envoy on Middle Eastern affairs, “The crisis [in Yemen] can only be settled through political means, an immediate end to the Saudi military aggression against Yemen and national dialog among all parties to the conflict [to be held] in an impartial country.”

The Iranian official made the remarks in a meeting with China’s special envoy on Middle East affairs, Gong Xiaosheng, in Tehran on Tuesday night.

Tehran also sent a political signal, announcing that a naval flotilla had left for the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Mandab Strait off the coast of Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula.

Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said at the ceremony of deployment that the mission is to “provide [safety for] Iran’s shipping lines and protect the Islamic Republic of Iran’s interests in the high seas”.