...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
on Friday that calls for an immediate cease-fire and the formation of a unity government.
In a letter sent to UN Secretary-General
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
, Iran's FM Javad Zarif urged the New York-based body "to get more effectively involved in ending the senseless aerial attacks," referring to the Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
n-led air campaign that have pounded Shiite Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the
Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is
God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews...
positions in Yemen since March 25.
The impoverished Arab country has been in turmoil since last September when Houthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa and have advanced to other parts of the country.
The current conflict is seen in some circles as a proxy war between majority Sunni Saudi Arabia and predominantly Shiite Iran.
The letter said terrorist groups were "gaining strategic foothold in Yemen aided by the foreign aerial campaign."
Iran's plan calls for the restoration of a "Yemeni-led" national dialogue among all factions, and says a cease-fire will ensure access to humanitarian aid for the Yemeni population.
"This critical situation is escalating and the humanitarian crisis in Yemen is approaching catastrophic dimensions," read Zarif's letter.
"It may result in further exacerbation of the already tense circumstances in a region that has been plagued by one of the most barbaric types of extremism and multi-pronged vicious campaign of foreign-backed terrorists," it added.
The UN estimates more than 731 victims have been killed in Yemen since March 19.
On Thursday, the UN chief also called for an immediate cease-fire to allow for lifesaving humanitarian aid and the restoration of peace in the country.
The UN humanitarian affairs agency, OCHA, on Friday appealed to international donors to provide $274 million in order to provide aid for 7.5 million Yemenis - more than 30 percent of the population - who are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.
As many as 12 million Yemenis are food insecure, and at least 150,000 have been displaced, according to the UN.