Senior Iranian officials announced Tuesday their support for the killing of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh by the militia of pro-Iranian Houthi and described the Yemenis’ confrontation with the militias a "conspiracy.”
Commander of Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) commented on Killing Saleh in Yemen, “Thanks God, the conspiracy in Yemen was nipped in the bud” while Top Adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei Ali Akbar Velayati said that “he got what he deserved”.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, for his part, did not comment directly on Saleh’s death and only made accusations against the Coalition for Supporting Legitimacy in Yemen for its military operations, directing implicit threats to the coalition states.
Saudi Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Al Jaber attacked Iran and said it exports death to Yemen.
In his interview with Asharq Al-Awsat on Tuesday, Jaber said that Houthi insurgents are now left with nothing but the support of their own militias as “the Yemeni people have chosen their state, tribe and Arabism above Iranian expansionism.”
Saleh's death came two weeks after Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari’s first official announcement of providing "advisory" support to Yemen.
He acknowledged that his country “provides support at the request of the Yemeni authorities and government to the Houthis, and our support is mainly advisory and moral.”
Jafari's remarks come following repeated Iranian retaliation for the charge of being responsible for the ballistic missiles and heavy and medium weapons fired by Houthi militias on Saudi Arabia and Yemen and threatening international navigation in the Red Sea.
Iran calls its military presence in Syria and Iraq “advisory.”
Contrary to what Tehran says, Deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards Hossein Salami said: "The ground forces of the Revolutionary Guards have demonstrated their capabilities in Syria."
In his remarks, Jafari referred to the export of the Iranian revolution to Syria, Bahrain and Yemen, adding that they "benefited from the Iranian experience."
