Sanaa FM mocks Saudi statement, warns of response to escalation
SANAA, Sept. 08 (YPA) – Yemen’s Sanaa-based Foreign Ministry on Tuesday mocked a statement issued by the Saudi Foreign Ministry, saying the Saudi rhetoric reflects an attempt to justify military escalation and evade the requirements of peace.
In a statement, the ministry warned that continued military buildup and attacks would be met with a response that raises the cost of escalation for Riyadh.
The statement affirmed that targeting Saudi military buildups falls within Yemen’s right to respond and defend itself, linking the move to the principle of blockade for blockade.
It said responding to Saudi attacks and crimes is a legitimate right guaranteed under international laws and conventions.
The statement noted the Saudi regime was the party that declared war, through its foreign minister, and had targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure in more than a quarter of a million airstrikes over 12 years of aggression and blockade against Yemen.
It clarified that the Saudi-led aggression had killed and wounded thousands of civilians, including women and children, and destroyed thousands of civilian facilities.
“The party that has threatened the security and stability of the Republic of Yemen since the 1930s is the criminal Saudi regime, which has sought to impose guardianship over Yemen, tear it apart, occupy its territory and destroy its resources,” the statement added.
It stressed that when Yemen announced its decision to impose a blockade on the Saudi regime, it was pursuing a clear and legitimate objective: lifting the blockade imposed by Saudi Arabia.
The statement reaffirmed that the Saudi regime had rejected the path of peace and failed to move forward with implementing the roadmap, believing that regional and international circumstances had become favorable for pursuing its malicious objectives in Yemen.
Instead of responding to Yemen’s legitimate demands, the statement said, Riyadh had escalated by mobilizing its allies in occupied areas, pushing them toward further destabilization and targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure with aircraft and missiles, most recently in an attack on the central prison in Jawf province.
It affirmed that Yemen had repeatedly called on the international community in recent years to compel the Saudi regime to end its aggression, lift the blockade on Yemen, stop interfering in its internal affairs, and cease undermining the country’s sovereignty and social cohesion, but that the international community had failed to take action.
The ministry’s statement also said the international community must recognize that the Saudi regime is pushing the region toward escalation and worsening the situation, warning that this would have negative repercussions for the broader regional landscape and holding Riyadh responsible for any consequences arising from such actions.
It stressed that Yemen is exercising its legitimate right to self-defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, as well as its right to defend its sovereignty, security, stability, territorial integrity and the rights of its people.
The statement concluded by stressing that any aggression against Yemen would be met with a response and retaliation, saying that the era of guardianship and dependence on foreign powers has passed and will never return.
AA