Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi on Thursday urged the Iran-backed Houthi militias to stop impeding the flow of urgently needed humanitarian aid.
His remarks came in a prerecorded speech to the UN General Assembly, whose annual gathering of world leaders was being held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Yemeni president also asked that the Houthis allow a UN team immediate access to the abandoned Safer oil tanker that risks causing massive environmental damage to the Red Sea.
Saudi Arabia warned the UN Security Council on Wednesday that an "oil spot" had been seen in a shipping transit area 50 kilometers west of the decaying tanker.
In a letter to the 15-member body, Saudi Ambassador to the UN Abdallah Al-Mouallimi urged it “to uphold its responsibility and to take immediate actions” to compel the insurgents to “give access to the tanker.”
The United Nations has been waiting for formal authorization from the militias to send a mission to the tanker to conduct a technical assessment and whatever initial repairs might be feasible.
“We are trying to save our country and establish a just and lasting peace,” Hadi said Thursday, blaming Iran for meddling in his nation. “The objective is to stop the blood-letting in Yemen.”
