Baku, Azerbaijan, April 1
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Spokeswoman of Iranian foreign ministry says that claims made about Iran's interference in Yemen are baseless.
Marziyeh Afkham went on to say that although some regional countries are interfering in and violating Yemen's security, Iran does not meddle in Yemen's internal issues, Iranian Fars news agency reported on April 1.
Yemen repeatedly claims that Iran is supporting "separatists in the south and religious groups in the north of the country."
On March 31, Reuters quoted Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi as saying "Iranian interference still exists, whether through its support for the Hirak separatists or some religious groups in northern Yemen," apparently referring to the Shi'ite Muslim Houthi rebels who are trying to capture more territory in the northern part of the country.
"We asked our Iranian brothers to revise their wrong policies towards Yemen, but our demands have not borne fruit. We have no desire to escalate (the situation) with Tehran but at the same time we hope it will lift its hand off Yemen," the president added.
Commenting on Hadi's statements Afkham underlined that Iran always supports Yemen's territorial integrity and stability. The Iranian spokeswoman went on to say that Yemen's problems can also be resolved with dialogue and within a political procedure with presence of all political groups.
Yemen's government is grappling with a host of challenges, including a separatist movement in the south and an Islamist insurgency, as it tries to restore authority lost during mass protests in 2011 that overthrew the veteran president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.