Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and other rights groups have similarly urged the United States, Britain, and France to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia until it curtails its airstrikes in Yemen.
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In a reply to a call by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for Houthis to surrender their ballistic missiles, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam wrote in a message posted on Facebook that “whoever has a greedy eye on our weapons, we will have a greedy eye on his life”.
Yemen’s internationally recognised government, based in Saudi Arabia, has made similar demands but insisted that the Houthis fulfil all those measures before any new government was formed.
“We agreed on a renewed approach to negotiations with both a security and political track simultaneously working in order to provide a comprehensive settlement”, Kerry said.
Zarif, speaking from Chile, said Kerry’s remarks show the USA government is “an accomplice in Saudi war crimes against the innocent people of Yemen”.
While it is rare for cross-border rocket fire from Yemen to hit much of anything, today the Saudi government has reported that one such rocket hit a family home in the southern city of Najran, killing two children and wounding five other civilians. Last month, the United Nations mediated peace talks between the rebels and the government collapsed over major differences on a political resolution.
The rebels had been demanding a unity government as the first step towards resolving Yemen’s war.
The US also seeks to improve the capacity of the Hudaydah Port so it can receive humanitarian and commercial supplies.
Kerry said Washington was “deeply troubled” by rebel attacks on Saudi territory, where more than 100 soldiers and civilians have been killed in cross-border bombardments and skirmishes.
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On Thursday, Kerry announced almost $189 million in additional humanitarian aid for Yemen, bringing the total amount of U.S. assistance to more than $327 million since October 2015. Kerry and al-Jubeir then met with their counterparts from the Gulf Cooperation Council – which includes the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Kingdom – to get the approval of its members on the new approach.
