Minister of Foreign Affairs Abu Bakar Al-Qirbi has accused Iran of interfering in Yemen’s affairs, stressing that any Iranian cooperation with Yemeni political sides is unacceptable. An Emirati Newspaper, Al-Khaleej, said on Wednesday that some factions in Iran and other countries blatantly intervene in Yemen’s affairs.
“We along with all regional states are keen to have relations with Iran, but we refuse any intervention in internal affairs” he said.
The US Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein had frequently cautioned against Iranian intervention in Yemen, indicating that Iran seeks to spark troubles in Yemen through supporting the Saada-based Houthi group.
According to the New York Times, Iran operates increase its political outreach and arms shipments to rebels and other political figures in Yemen as part of what American military and intelligence officials say is a widening Iranian effort to extend its influence across the greater Middle East.The Yemeni authorities have seized a weapon-loaded Iranian ship while it was en route to the Houthi fighters nearby the Hodeidah port early of 2012.
Meanwhile, Al-Qirbi denied any direct military intervention in fight launched by the Yemeni army against Ansar Al-Sharia, an al-Qaeda-linked group in the South.
He emphasized that the Yemeni army fights al-Qaeda alone and that the United States provides logistic supports to Yemeni anti-terror forces, denying any US pressures on the Yemeni government to create a US base in Socotra island.
“Creation of military bases in Socotra Island contradicts the Yemen constitution that bans any foreign existence on Yemen’s lands” he added, pointing out that allegations of US pressures on the Yemeni government is baseless.