TEHRAN (Tasnim) � Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan criticized his French counterpart's recent remarks about Iran and said Paris should "learn a lesson" from the past and stop its support for the killing of people in Yemen by Saudi Arabia.







"France's obvious support for the savage invasion of Yemen (by Saudi Arabia and its allies) demonstrates the Zionist and anti-human nature of the leaders of a regime that has always backed war criminals and authoritarian regimes over the past four decades," general Dehqan said.

He made the comments in response to recent remarks by French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who had accused Iran of increasing instability in Yemen.

France has traded with the blood of innocent people and defenseless women and children, the Iranian defense minister added, referring to the European country's multi-billion-dollar arms sales over the past years.

General Dehqan said France, which calls itself a human rights advocate and "the center of civilization and democracy", should have condemned the massacre of women and children in Yemen and defend the oppressed instead of "making such false accusations" against Iran.

On March 26, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies began to militarily interfere in Yemen's internal affairs by launching deadly air strikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to the fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.

The Saudi-led coalition on Tuesday admitted defeat and announced that its military operation "Decisive Storm" has ended.

Riyadh and its allies were forced to end the aggression without reaching any of their objectives.

According to the spokesman of the Yemeni Army, the Saudi-led war on the Arabian Peninsula country killed 2,051 people and wounded 3,897.

By Tasnim News Agency