Zarif writes to UN over Saudi funeral attack

Zarif condemned Riyadh’s latest atrocity in a letter penned to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday.

"Not only Saudi Arabia, but also those who have supported the aggression by the Saudi-led coalition against Yemeni people should be held accountable for the war crimes perpetrated in Yemen over the past year and a half," he said.

Iran’s foreign minister also called on Ban to facilitate a proposal by the Iranian Red Crescent Society to send humanitarian aid to the Yemeni capital Sana’a.

"In view of the gravity of the situation in Yemen and the devastation caused by the attacks against the funeral hall, the Iranian Red Crescent Society is proposing to arrange for humanitarian assistance, including medical supplies, to the Yemeni people and evacuating the injured to hospitals in Iran," he added.

Earlier, Ban called for a swift, independent probe into the airstrike, while stressing that “Those responsible for the attack must be brought to justice.”

More than 140 people were killed and over 525 wounded on Saturday, when a Saudi airstrike hit a community hall in south of the capital, where a funeral for the father of Interior Minister Jalal al-Roweishan was being held.

The death toll was one of the largest in a single incident since March 2015, when the Riyadh regime began its deadly campaign to crush the Yemeni Houthi Ansarullah movement and their allies and restore power to the resigned president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

/SR