Irans Foreign Ministers Mohamad Javad Zarif has called for the extension of a truce in Yemen, slamming the United Nations for failing to fulfill its duties in the impoverished Arab country.
Zarif made the remarks in a press conference with visiting Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Monday.
We call on the United Nations, first of all to use every possibility that it has ... in order to extend the ceasefire in Yemen.
The five-day humanitarian ceasefire went into effect on May 12 and ended on Sunday at 2000 GMT.
The international community, particularly the security council, has failed miserably in performing its responsibilities under international law and under the charter of the United Nations to first of all condemn this very brutal act of aggression against civilian population in Yemen, zarif said.
He expressed sorrowover the continuation of the Saudi airstrikes in Yemen, sayingit is regrettable that the Saudi aggression is going on."
He added, Unfortunately, the targets in most areas have been civilians.
Zarif also called on the United Nations to ease the process of delivering humanitarian aid to the Yemeni people.
"It is also regrettable that humanitarian assistance has failed to reach the people in Yemen," he added.
Saudi Arabia started military aggression against Yemen on March 26 - without a UN mandate - in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which currently controls the capital, Sanaa, and other major provinces, and to restore power to Yemens fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who is a staunch ally of Riyadh.
UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Johannes Van der Klaauw said on Friday that over 1,600 people have been killed and more than 6,200 injured in Yemen since conflict startedthere in late March.
He added that some 450,000 people have been displaced as a result of the ongoingviolence.