Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr slammed on Thursday a recently published UN Human Rights Council report on Yemen as “biased and misguided,” accusing Iran-backed Houthi militias of not being serious about finding a true and sustainable settlement to the country's crisis.
Bin Daghr said that Houthis continue to employ evasiveness and abide by instructions issued in Tehran.
He added that the report “relied on misleading and false claims, and that its clauses lacked impartiality and professionalism.”
It included a number of allegations and misdemeanors likely to have been gleaned from Houthi media sources on violations allegedly perpetrated by the legitimate government and the Arab Coalition.
The report attracted wide-ranging criticism from the Yemeni government which said activists and human rights organizations are being unrealistic and biased.
Meeting in Cairo with US Ambassador to Yemen Matthew H. Tueller, Bin Daghr discussed current arrangements for the upcoming Geneva consultations between the legitimate government and the Houthis.
According to official Yemeni sources, the PM affirmed the Yemeni government's support to UN efforts for a political solution based on three principal guidelines agreed upon both locally and internationally.
Peacemaking in Yemen relies on the implementation of the Gulf Cooperation Council initiative and its executive mechanism, in addition to relevant UN Security Council resolutions, foremost of which is resolution 2216.
“Houthi militias have never been serious about achieving peace, because their decision-making has been taken captive by their supporters in Iran,” said Bin Daghr.
He went on to explain that Iran is gambling with Yemeni lives in its hope to blackmail neighboring Arab Gulf countries and the international community.
Iran is desperate in its attempts to control the Bab al-Mandab Strait and threaten the safety and security of international navigation, he added.
On the other hand, Bin Daghr praised efforts spent by the Saudi-led Arab Coalition in supporting President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi’s constitutionally elected government and the Yemeni people.
The PM went on to add that it was Coalition efforts that spared Yemen the dire fate intended for it by what he called the “Persian plan.”
He pointed to Coalition efforts for normalizing the situation and supporting the legitimate government in providing basic services to citizens.
