Hassan Rouhani

Tehran : Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday urged Saudi Arabia to give up what he called the kingdom’s “interference” in Yemen’s internal affairs.

“Saudi Arabia should leave the Yemen’s affairs to its people,” Rouhani said in a live broadcast from the state IRIB TV.

If the Saudi officials stop their intervention in Yemen and give up their support to terrorism in the region, the relations between Iran and the Arab state will return to its normal track, Rouhani said.

He stressed that dialogue would be the best way for settling disputes between Tehran and Riyadh.

Iran’s dispatch of the pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for annual Hajj ceremony in Mecca is an indication of Iran’s will for resolving the issues, he pointed out.

The Yemeni war pits Iranian-allied Shiite Houthi rebels, backed by forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, against the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, which is backed by the Saudi-led Arab coalition.

The capital Sanaa and most of the northern provinces have been under control of Houthi rebels since September 2014.

The war has so far killed more than 10,000 Yemenis, half of them civilians, and displaced over two million others, according to UN humanitarian agencies.

—IANS