Tueller: ‘No Negligence in Dealing with Iran’s Interventions’

Yemen's Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr. Reuters
Yemen's Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr. Reuters
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Tueller: ‘No Negligence in Dealing with Iran’s Interventions’

Yemen's Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr. Reuters
Yemen's Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr. Reuters

US Ambassador to Yemen Matthew H. Tueller has stated that his country is fully aware of the gravity of Iran's meddling in the internal affairs of Yemen.

During a meeting Wednesday with Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr in Riyadh, Tueller said that the US, in collaboration with the international community, is determined to deal seriously with the Iranian interventions.

Tueller reiterated his country's support for restoring legitimacy in Yemen and for protecting the country's stability and unity, hailing the successes achieved by the legitimate government in the regions liberated from the coup d'état perpetrators at the financial and security levels, according to Yemen News Agency.

For his part, Bin Daghr affirmed that Yemen's support for the new US strategy adopted by President Donald Trump towards Iran stems from a full awareness of the seriousness of its destructive role that aims to destabilize the security and stability of the Arab region and the world and its full involvement in supporting the coup against Yemeni legitimacy, prolonging the war and deepening the tragedy and resulting in humanitarian catastrophe.

He stressed that Houthi and Saleh militia, supported by Tehran, should not bet on distracting the international community from the root of the problem, which is represented in the armed militias that carried out a coup against the legitimate authority and put its president-elect from the people under house arrest, and turning it into a humanitarian cause to legitimize their presence.

“The international community is aware of the problem and its solution and of the reason behind this war that was imposed on the legitimate government.”

“These militias and their supporters must understand that the unprecedented international consensus on the issue of Yemen is a clear message that a militia coup against the legitimate force and an elected president will not be accepted and will be deterred in order not to recur in any other country,” Bin Daghr explained.

He pointed to the importance of the responsibility of the international community, the United Nations and the Security Council to assist the legitimate government and the US-led coalition to complete the enforcement of binding decisions under the seventh chapter and end the coup.

The international community acknowledges Iran’s approach, which is based on procrastination and evasion and is adopted by its allies in Yemen, Bin Daghr explained, referring to talks with Iran on the nuclear deal.



In Syria's Devastated Jobar, Cemetery Comes Alive for Eid

Syrians visit the graves of their loved ones in the Jobar suburb of Damascus on the first day of Eid al-Adha. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP
Syrians visit the graves of their loved ones in the Jobar suburb of Damascus on the first day of Eid al-Adha. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP
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In Syria's Devastated Jobar, Cemetery Comes Alive for Eid

Syrians visit the graves of their loved ones in the Jobar suburb of Damascus on the first day of Eid al-Adha. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP
Syrians visit the graves of their loved ones in the Jobar suburb of Damascus on the first day of Eid al-Adha. LOUAI BESHARA / AFP

Only the cemetery in Damascus's devastated suburb of Jobar showed signs of life on Friday as residents returned to visit and pray for Eid al-Adha, the first since Bashar al-Assad's fall.

Jawdat al-Qais fought back tears as he knelt at the tomb of his father, who died less than a month ago, AFP said.

"His wish was to be buried in Jobar -- and Jobar was liberated and he was buried here," said Qais, 57.

"We carried out his wish, thank God," he said, adding that "many people haven't been able to be buried in their hometowns."

Once home to around 350,000 people, Jobar was turned into a wasteland due to heavy fighting from the start of Syria's civil war, which erupted in 2011 with Assad's brutal repression of anti-government protests.

In 2018, an accord between Assad's government and opposition factions allowed fighters and their families to evacuate.

After being forced out, Jobar's residents have returned for Eid al-Adha, the biggest holiday in Islam, during which it is customary to pay respects to the dead.

Among the utter ruin of the district, the call to prayer rose from damaged mosque's minaret as dozens of faithful gathered both inside and out.

Population 'zero'

In the deathly silence, devastated buildings line barely passable roads in Jobar, which is also home to a historic synagogue.

At the cemetery, which was also damaged, residents -- including former fighters in wheelchairs or using crutches -- came together after years of separation, some drinking coffee or eating dates.

"The irony of Jobar is that the cemetery is the only thing bringing us life, bringing us together," Qais said.

Some visitors struggled to find their loved ones' tombs among the overturned headstones.

A few etched names or drew rudimentary signs to help identify them on the next visit.

"I found my mother's tomb intact and I wept," said Jihad Abulmajd, 53.

He said he has visited her grave regularly since Assad's December 8 ouster.

"We find peace here, with our ancestors and relatives," he told AFP.

The day after Assad was toppled, Hamza Idris, 64, and his family returned to Jobar from Idlib in the country's northwest, where they fled in 2018.

He said a definitive return to the ghost town, whose infrastructure has been destroyed, was impossible.

"Jobar's population... is zero," he said after praying in front of the mosque.

"Even the cemetery wasn't spared the bombs," said Idris, who lost three children during the war and was unable to visit their graves until Assad's ouster.

"The town is no longer habitable. It needs to be entirely rebuilt," he said.