Iran Asks UN to Send Fact-Finding Team to Yemen

(FNA)- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday called for a UN fact-finding mission in Yemen to report on the results of the Saudi-led coalition's indiscriminate attacks on targets in the poor nation, warning that an overwhelming majority of the victims have been defenseless civilians.

"The solution to the Yemeni crisis is political and no results will be yielded through bombing the defenseless people; the UN can send a fact-finding group (to Yemen) to determine the identity of those who have been killed during the over-20-day airstrikes against the country," Rouhani said in a meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in Tehran on Saturday.

Stressing Iran's readiness to hold consultations and interaction with regional and trans-regional states to stop the bloodshed in Yemen, he said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran is prepared to cooperate with all countries, including Australia, in fighting violence, extremism and terrorism."

Rouhani referred to the differences among certain regional states on solutions to settle the problems, and said a look at the developments in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan in recent years shows the correctness of Tehran's warnings that the terrorist groups shouldn’t be supplied with weapons and money.

He also underlined the necessity for settling the problems of refugees in the region, and warned that their situation has made them good candidate for terrorist groups.

Bishop, for her part, said that Canberra also agrees with Iran that the Yemeni crisis has a political solution.

Rouhani's remarks is part of Iran's large-scale diplomatic campaign to stop the Saudi regime's brutal attacks on the Muslim neighboring nation.

On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif put forward details of a proposed peace plan according to which Tehran seeks to help end the ongoing conflict gripping Yemen.

During his visit to the Spanish capital, Madrid, Zarif proposed a four-point plan, emphasizing the Yemeni nation’s right to decide its own future free from foreign interference.

The proposal includes hammering out a ceasefire, sending humanitarian assistance to the people affected by violence, launching an intra-Yemeni dialog, and establishing a broad-based government participated by all Yemeni factions, according to Zarif.

The top Iranian diplomat, once again, called on the Al Saud regime to stop its military campaign against Yemen, saying the deadly attacks on the Arabian Peninsula state could never provide “an answer” to the conflict.

“…All operations should end on land and from the air,” Zarif said, adding, “This issue should be resolved by the Yemenis... Iran and Saudi Arabia need to talk but we cannot talk to determine the future of Yemen.”