Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh has called on the country’s Houthi fighters to enter into the county’s political arena by forming a party.

Hailing an early February ceasefire reached with the Hezbollah fighters based in the beleaguered north, Saleh said the group could play a role in the country’s politics as a political party.

The remarks come almost a month after the Houthis accepted the central government’s conditions in a bid to put an end to a massive onslaught in the north, backed by the Saudi and US military forces and logistics.

The joint offensive drove some 150,000 people out of their homes in battlefields in northern Yemen, Sa’ada province in particular.

Hundreds of people, including a large number of civilians, were killed since Yemen’s stepped up offensive was launched in August.

Last week, Houthi fighters complained that Sana’a had kept its siege over the capital of the northern Shia-dominated province of Sa’ada in contrast to the terms of the ceasefire.

“The army continues to this moment to refuse to lift the siege on the city of Sa’ada,” the Houthis said on their website, adding that the Yemeni soldiers were re-establishing military checkpoints on the newly-opened roads, Reuters reported.

The fighters said that the army was preventing citizens from entering their homes and was also preventing food supplies from reaching the war-stricken regions.

Some 187 children were killed as the result of the government and Saudi attacks during the war, said a recent report issued by UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Fund) and the Yemen children’s rights organization.

Yemen’s Hezbollah Movement Houthi fighters say the central government has kept its siege over the capital of the northern province of Sa’ada.

“The army continues to this moment to refuse to lift the siege on the city of Sa’ada,” the Houthis said on their website on Thursday, adding that the Yemeni soldiers were re-establishing military checkpoints on the newly-opened roads, Reuters reported.

“They are preventing citizens from entering their homes,” They said. The Houthis added that the government is also preventing food supplies from reaching the war-hit regions.

The Yemeni government intensified its armed campaign against the Hezbollahs in August, accusing the Houthis of taking foreign visitors hostage.

Some 187 children were killed as a result of the government and Saudi attacks during the war, said a recent report issued by UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Fund) and the Yemen children’s rights organization.

The Houthi grievance on Thursday comes only two weeks after the parties reached a truce agreement.

Yemeni Hezbollah Movement Houthi fighters have begun handing over the remaining Saudi soldiers they are holding to the committee in the northern town of Saada overseeing a fledgling ceasefire, a spokesman said on Thursday.

“We have started to hand over the rest of the Saudi soldiers to the ceasefire committee in Saada,” Mohammed Abdul Salam said.

Four committees in north Yemen are charged with implementing the ceasefire between the fighters and the government, which went into effect on Friday.

The fighters on Monday freed the first of five Saudi soldiers captured during the conflict as part of the six-point truce agreement with Sanaa.

As well as freeing all prisoners and opening roads in the north, the truce requires the Houthis to withdraw from government buildings, return arms seized from security forces, hand over captured army posts and pledge not to attack Saudi Arabia.

Last month, the fighters offered to accept the five conditions originally set by the government for a ceasefire and withdrew from all of the Saudi territory.

Saudi Arabia, however, continued its offensives alongside with the Yemeni Army. Sana’a rejected the Houthis’ peace offer, saying it would stop the war only if they complied with the government’s sixth condition.

Riyadh joined Yemen’s offensive against the Houthis after accusing the fighters of killing a Saudi border guard and occupying two border villages on November 3.

Sana’a on Friday said the situation was back to normal in northern Yemen following a truce deal between the military and Yemen Hezbollah Movement Houthi fighters.

The ceasefire, which came in force on Thursday night (2100 GMT), put an end to a massive military offensive launched by the Yemeni army in August, which was later joint by the Saudi army.

Human rights organizations had expressed worry about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the war-stricken region, where hundreds of people were killed and tens of thousands more were displaced.

“Calm reigns on all fronts from Sa’ada and Malahidh (in the far north near the Saudi border) to Harf Sufian,” further south, AFP quoted one field commander as saying. Other army commanders also said the Yemen Hezbollah Movement Houthi fighters had started removing the roadblocks they had put up on some of the key routes through the northern mountains blocking government traffic.

Riyadh stepped into the fierce fighting against the Houthis in November after accusing the rebels of clashing with its border guards and, according to Yemen Hezbollah Movement Houthi fighters, went as far as targeting residential areas of villages lying miles into the Yemeni soil.

The truce is expected to halt the conflicts in northern Yemen and on the border with neighboring Saudi Arabia.

Iran has welcomed the truce as a step toward Yemen’s development and stabilizing peace in the region.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always called for a halt to military conflicts and the settlement of differences through peaceful means,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Friday.

“We see [the truce deal] as a step toward the reinforcement of national unity in Yemen, and a contribution to stability and social and economic development of the country, and therefore we support the move.”

Yemen says it is close to a deal to end the six-month war with Yemen Hezbollah Movement Houthi fighters eventually after having refused previous peace offers.

Citing a Yemeni official, AFP reported on Wednesday that the development comes “in the light of (Yemen Hezbollah Movement leader Abdul Malak) al-Houthi’s acceptance of the six conditions,” put forward by the Sana’a, including a commitment not to attack neighboring Saudi Arabia.

“An agreement between the government and the Yemen Hezbollah Movement Houthi to end the war is imminent,” the official added.

According to the report, a mediator close to the fighters said a committee including government and Houthi representatives would be formed with the task of “establishing peace, and collecting heavy weapons from the Houthis.”

It would also “follow up the issue of prisoners and compensation for those affected by the war,” he added.

The mediator said the Yemen Hezbollah Movement fighters had agreed to “withdraw from the borders (with Saudi Arabia) and hand the area over to the Yemeni army.”

He said they have also agreed to “remove roadblocks … vacate government buildings and hand Saudi prisoners over to the Yemeni government.”

Last month, the fighters offered to accept the five conditions originally set by the government for a ceasefire and withdrew from all of the Saudi territory.

Saudi Arabia, however, continued its offensives alongside with the Yemeni Army. Sana’a rejected the Houthis’ peace offer, saying it would stop the war only if they complied with the government’s sixth condition.

Meanwhile, Ali Al-Ahmad, the founder and director of an independent think-tank in Washington told Press TV that Yemen is under international pressure to end the war on the Houthis.

“There is international push especially from the United States to end the war with the Houthis because the United States feels that it is time to focus on al-Qaeda in Yemen,” said Ahmad.

According to the expert, Washington is also trying to convince Riyadh to stop the offensive against Shia fighters.

Saudis have not stopped the attacks on Houthis, he said.

Riyadh joined Yemen’s offensive against the Houthis after accusing the Yemen Hezbollah Movement fighters of killing a Saudi border guard and occupying two border villages on November 3. Saudi jets began bombing Yemen’s northern villages the following day.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday rejected Saudi claims of Tehran’s interference in Yemen, urging Riyadh to revise its own policies regarding Sana’a rather than pointing fingers at others.

The goings-on inside Yemen are its internal affairs and Iran calls on other countries to avoid interfering in the impoverished country, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast.

“Tehran has repeatedly called for dialogue and a peaceful solution to the problem,” he said.

The spokesman said that Saudi Arabia’s claim came as “a surprise” to Iran, adding that, “We expected our Saudi brothers to move toward reforming their policies regarding Yemen, instead of accusing others.”

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal has accused Iran of interfering in Yemen’s internal affairs. The accusation comes after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denounced the Saudi military intervention in the war against Houthis in northern Yemen.

“My perception was that Saudi Arabia would mediate in Yemen’s domestic conflict like a father, or an elder brother, and make peace; not to get involved in the war and use bombs and guns against Muslims,” President Ahmadinejad said on January 13.

The Yemeni Hezbollahi Movement Houthi fighters say they’ve broken an advance by Yemeni forces in the Harf Sufyan district in the country’s north.

According to the fighters, two Yemeni military tanks were destroyed in the heavy clashes in the district.

Yemeni ground forces bombarded the area with massive artillery and rocket fire, while Yemeni warplanes targeted northeastern districts.

The conflict between the central government in Sana’a and the Houthis of northern Yemen began in 2004 and grew increasingly tense in August, 2009 when the Yemeni army launched Operation Scorched Earth.

The government claims that the fighters, who are named after their leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, seek to restore the imamate system, which was overthrown in a 1962 military coup.

Yemeni Hezbollahi Movement Houthi fighters have accused the Sana’a government of violating their people’s civil rights and undermining them under pressure from Saudi-backed Wahhabi extremists. Shias make up approximately half of the overall Yemeni population.

Saudi Arabia also launched its ground and aerial attacks against Houthi fighters after accusing them of killing a Saudi border guard and occupying two border villages on November 3.

The Saudi military says more than 130 of their soldiers have been killed in Yemen, with an unspecified number listed as missing in action.

The violence has left hundreds of dead and thousands more homeless.

The Swiss-based International Committee of the Red Cross says humanitarian conditions in Yemen are at their worst after five months of fighting between Saudi forces and the Houthi fighters.

Pakistan has reportedly sent an army combat unit to Yemen to join the war against the Hezbollahi fighters in the country’s north.

An informed source with the Pakistani daily Jang has said that a 300-strong unit of Special Forces has been deployed in Yemen.

US media reports say the US military and intelligence agencies are involved in joint operations with Yemeni troops.

Yemen launched a military offensive against the Houthi fighters in the northern Sa’ada Province last August. Saudi Arabia joined forces with the Yemeni government in November.

Sana’a accuses the Hezbollahi fighters of violating terms of a ceasefire in 2009 by taking foreign visitors hostage.

The Houthis accuse the Yemeni government of violating their civil rights and marginalizing them politically, economically, and religiously.

The Hezbollahi fighters say the offensives launched against the northern regions mostly target residential areas and result in civilian casualties.

Islamabad’s controversial decision is expected to cause public outrage in a country, which is similarly targeted by indiscriminate missile attacks.

The Pakistani public holds regular demonstrations to condemn Washington’s drone attacks on remote tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

The US claims that the attacks are aimed at eliminating militant positions. However, they usually result in civilian casualties.

Houthi fighters in Yemen claim to have parried incursions by the army into their strongholds in the north, forcing government troops to retreat with their tanks ablaze.

The Houthis said they repelled the Yemeni soldiers who stormed their position on Thursday in the border village of al-Jabiri, 966 kilometers (600 miles) from the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

Four army tanks were destroyed in fierce clashes, the Houthis said, adding that they repelled another government advance in the northern Kataf district.

Yemen has maintained the bombardment of the northern city of Sa’ada, prompting a response from Houthi fighters who in retaliation attacked the city’s military command center.

Officials in Sana’a had no comment on the latest clashes.

Meanwhile, Saudi attacks in the north continued with more than a dozen airstrikes conducted by the Royal Saudi Air Force targeting civilian areas, the Houthis said.

Saudi Arabia has been pounding northern Yemen for months as part of a joint campaign with Sana’a against the Houthi fighters. The fighting has been costly for Riyadh, Houthis said.

Saudi Maj. Gen. Ali Zaid Al-Khawalji said the army has tasked units with retrieving the bodies of slain Saudi soldiers.

He said a number of Saudi troops — a lieutenant colonel who was a veteran of the first war in the Persian Gulf — had been killed in clashes with Houthi fighters in the area last week.

Saudi intervention, which began in November, has left at least 113 troops killed and hundreds of others wounded.

Houthis accuse Riyadh of targeting civilian areas far from the Saudi-Yemeni border. They say the attacks have so far left scores of civilians killed and thousands of others displaced.

Yemen’s Houthi fighters say the Saudi Arabian army has launched a new incursion into the north of the war-wracked country, followed by massive missile fire.

Tuesday’s Saudi advance led to a major battle that is still underway in the al-Dukhan region near the Saudi border, said Shia Houthi fighters in northern Yemen.

The move came a few days after the Saudi army failed to take a key military position in the region, which the Houthi fighters managed to retake form the kingdom two months ago.

Unable to crush the resistance from the Houthis since the beginning of their joint offensive with the Yemeni military in August, infuriated officials in Riyadh have vowed not to stop attacks until they cleanse the area of the local fighters.

Meanwhile, Saudi warplanes launched at least a dozen air raids targeting Maran and al-Razih districts, reported the Houthis, saying that nearly 1,000 missiles had been fired into border town areas.

On another front, the Houthis said, Yemeni forces launched further attacks in the northern city of Sa’ada — the Shia fighters’ main stronghold — destroying several homes and part of the city’s infrastructure.

Saudi airstrikes have claimed the lives of at least 13 people in the north of Yemen, Yemen’s Houthi fighters have said.

According to the Houthis, Saudi warplanes carried out 12 attacks the details of which are yet to be released.

The raids come only a day after the Houthis said some four civilians were killed by Saudi forces.

Saudi Arabia launched its military attacks in Yemen in November after accusing the fighters of killing two of its border guards.

The fighters rejected the accusations saying that Riyadh launched the operations to help the Yemeni government in its crackdown on the country’s Shias which began in August.

There are also reports that Saudi Arabia has used phosphorus bombs in Yemen.

The conflict in North Yemen began in 2004 between Sana’a and Houthi fighters. Relative peace had returned to the region until August 11, when the Yemeni army launched a major offensive, dubbed ‘Operation Scorched Earth’, against Sa’ada Province.

The government claims that the fighters, who are named after their leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, seek to restore the Shia imamate system, which was overthrown in a 1962 military coup.

The Houthis, however, say they are defending their people’s civil rights, which the government has undermined under pressure from Saudi-backed Wahhabi extremists.

Civilians have been the main victims of the all-out war which has been fueled by foreign military intervention in the poorest Arab country in the region.

The United States has recently launched air raids against several targets in southern Yemen as part of what Washington claims are efforts to wipe out hundreds of al-Qaeda fighters operating in the country.

News and eye-witness reports, however, indicate that civilians, including women and children, have been the main victims of recent US air raids in Yemen.

Yemen’s Muslim fighters in a Tuesday statement rejected reports that Saudi forces had taken a small border village, which was controlled by the Houthis since November.

The statement came after the state-owned al-Ekhbariya television network on Tuesday quoted Saudi Arabian Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan as saying that the Houthis have been eliminated from southwestern village of al-Jabiri — 966 kilometers (600 miles) from the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

In another development, Saudi Jets shelled a refugee camp in al-Khazain area, which is 15 kilometers (10 miles) northwest Sa’ada in two separate aerial attacks.

Saudi forces began fighting with Houthi fighters, and bombing their positions on November 4 after accusing the fighters of killing Saudi border guards.

Houthi fighters say that Riyadh pounds their positions and that Saudi forces strike Yemeni villages and indiscriminately target civilians. According to the fighters, the Saudis are using unconventional weapons such as white phosphorus shells against civilians in northern Yemen.

The overall death toll of Saudi soldiers in the border conflict with Yemen’s Houthi fighters now stands at 82.

Meanwhile, Saudi fighter jets on Tuesday launched four airstrikes on the districts of Jabal Qatabir in the mountainous province of Sa’ada in northern Yemen. Plumes of smoke could be seen rising as Saudi troops were shelling the area with some 899 rockets in the area.

Houthi fighters, in addition, managed to repel Yemeni government forces trying to infiltrate into the eastern section of Sama’a region to regain control over it. Yemeni forces had conducted several military operations in the morning with the intent to creep into the region in northern Yemen, however, the incursions ended in failure.

At around 1:30 p.m. local time (1030 GMT) Saudis made a fresh attack which once more was a complete failure. The Shia fighters, meanwhile, set a Yemeni military vehicle ablaze.

The conflict in northern Yemen began in 2004 between Sana’a and Houthi fighters. The conflict intensified in August 2009 when the Yemeni army launched Operation Scorched Earth in an attempt to crush the fighters in Sa’ada.

The Houthis accuse the Yemeni government of violating their civil rights and marginalizing them politically, economically, and religiously.

Houthi fighters in northern Yemen say they have seized control of a Saudi military post along the border between the two countries where Saudi and Yemeni forces are waging a campaign to uproot them.

According to a report released by Hezbollah’s al-Manar television network, Houthis have seized “full control of the Al-Jamrah Saudi military post” as well as weapons, communication material, military vehicles and surveillance equipment.

The report added that the northern Yemen’s Shia fighters overran the Saudi post on Monday and forced soldiers to flee. The post is said to be located in close proximity to al-Khoba in Saudi Arabia’s southern province of Jizan.

Meanwhile, Houthi fighters have managed to repulse Saudi forces trying to infiltrate into the rugged Sa’ada province in northern Yemen, after killing an unspecified number of Saudi soldiers.

Houthis said they pushed back Saudi troops from Shada border region in northern Yemen on the border with oil-rich Saudi-Arabia, and also set four Saudi military vehicles ablaze.

Houthi fighters also resisted a Yemeni military infiltration into Jebel Dhar al-Hamar region.

The conflict in northern Yemen began in 2004 between Sana’a and Houthi fighters. The conflict intensified in August 2009 when the Yemeni army launched Operation Scorched Earth in an attempt to crush the fighters in the northern province of Sa’ada.

The Houthis accuse the Yemeni government of violation of their civil rights, political, economic and religious marginalization as well as large-scale corruption.

This is while in addition to the Yemeni government, Saudi Arabia also pounds the Houthis. The Houthis say that Saudi forces strike Yemeni villages and indiscriminately target civilians. According to the fighters, Saudis use toxic materials, including white phosphorus bombs, against civilians in northern Yemen.

The US military is also said to be involved in bombing Yemen’s northern rugged regions of Amran, Hajjah and Sa’ada.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that since 2004, up to 175,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Sa’ada and take refuge at overcrowded camps set up by the United Nations.

Yemeni lawmaker Yahya al-Houthi says Saudi Arabian warplanes are engaged in the relentless bombardment of civilian positions in Yemen’s war-torn north.

In an interview with Press TV on Friday, the Yemeni lawmaker accused the Saudi army of using internationally banned weapons in its attacks on villages in the northern province of Sa’ada, regretting the high civilian toll from the raids.

If Riyadh had nuclear weapons, it would have used them against the Houthi fighters, the lawmaker charged.

Yemen’s beleaguered north, bordering the Saudi kingdom, has been the scene of a massive military operation by the Saudi-Yemeni forces, since the Sana’a government stepped up its offensive again the Shia fighters in August.

The central government in Yemen says the Houthis are trying to force the return of clerical rule in the country.

Houthi fighters, however, reject the allegations, accusing the Sunni-dominated Riyadh and Sana’a governments of joining forces to uproot the Shia faith in the territory, and of hiring terrorist elements to reach this goal.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia says it will stop its bombing campaign if the Houthis leave the border area, which the Houthis maintain they will do only after Riyadh has stopped aiding the Yemeni army.

This is while the US has been launching airstrikes on the southeastern parts of the impoverished Arab nation in the past two weeks as part of a military pact it signed with Yemen.

Washington is reportedly providing Sana’a with firepower and intelligence in addition to some 70 million dollars worth of military aid Pentagon has poured into Yemen this year.

The White House on Friday once again reiterated President Barack Obama’s support for the ongoing military operations across Yemen.

Houthi fighters have managed to repulse Saudi Arabian forces trying to infiltrate into the province of Sa’ada in northern Yemen, killing an unspecified number of Saudi soldiers in a battle in the border region.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Yemen’s Houthis said they pushed back Saudi troops from Al-Muannaq village in northern Yemen on the border with Saudi Arabia and also destroyed eight Saudi tanks.

The Houthi fighters say Saudi forces had fired 256 missiles and carried out air strikes against the Sa’ada region.

The statement also said that Saudi Apache helicopter gunships launched two air strikes on the city of Dahyan on Tuesday as Riyadh continues its air raids against the mountainous regions of northern Yemen. It added that Saudi ground forces used heavy machine guns during the operation.

The Saudi army also shelled Al-Malaheet and the villages adjacent to it, which caused many civilian deaths.

Seventy-three Saudis have been killed and 26 have gone missing since fighting broke out between Saudi forces and the Houthi fighters on November 3.

The number of wounded Saudi troops has reached 470, with 60 still hospitalized.

The conflict between the central government in Sana’a and the Houthis of northern Yemen began in 2004. The conflict intensified in August 2009 when the Yemeni army launched Operation Scorched Earth in an attempt to crush the Houthi movement.
The Houthis say their civil rights have been violated and they are suffering political, economic, and religious marginalization due to the policy of the Yemeni government, which they have also accused of widespread corruption.

The Saudi air force has further complicated the conflict by launching its own operations against Shia resistance fighters.

Houthi fighters say that Riyadh pounds their positions, and Saudi forces strike Yemeni villages and indiscriminately target civilians. According to the fighters, the Saudis are using prohibited weapons, including white phosphorous bombs, against civilians in northern Yemen.

The US military is also continuing its air raids on Yemen’s regions of Amran, Hajjah, and Sa’ada, which have suffered much due to the joint Saudi-Yemeni government offensive against the Houthi fighters.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that since 2004, up to 175,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Sa’ada and take refuge in overcrowded camps set up by the United Nations.

Yemen’s Houthi fighters say the US fighter jets have launched 28 attacks on the northwestern province of Sa’ada.

The US has used modern fighter jets and bombers in its offensive against the Yemen fighters, Houthis said in a statement.

According to the statement, the US fighter jets have launched overnight attacks on the Yemeni fighters, Arabic Almenpar website reported.

The development comes as The Daily Telegraph on Sunday reported that the US has sent its special forces to Yemen to train its army.

The reports of the US military intervention in Yemen come as Saudi Arabia is also lending full support to the Yemeni government’s crackdown on Yemen’s Houthi minority.

Saudi Arabia has launched cross-border ground attacks against Yemeni fighters and its fighter jets have reportedly dropped phosphorus bombs on Yemen’s northern areas.

International aid agencies and some UN bodies including United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have voiced concern over the dire condition of the Yemeni civilians who have become the main victims of the conflict in the country.

The United Nations which according to its charter is set up “to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace” has failed to adopt any concrete measures to help end the bloody war.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has dismissed the use of military action as the solution to the ongoing conflict in Yemen.

Speaking at a security conference in Bahrain on Saturday, Mottaki said the military action had only added fuel to the conflict, without yielding any result.

“The situation in Yemen does not have a military solution,” Mottaki said, reiterating that a “peaceful approach” which combines talks with other non-military options was the only possible means to settle the conflict.

Mottaki said Iran supports the territorial integrity, security and the development of Yemen.

The Yemeni military has launched a major offensive, dubbed ‘Operation Scorched Earth’, against Houthi Shias in the northern sector of the country.

The government accuses the fighters led by Abdul Malik al-Houthi of seeking to restore the imamate system, which was overthrown in a 1962 coup.

The Houthis argue, however, that they are defending their rights against government marginalization, a policy which they believe has been adopted under pressure from Saudi-backed Wahhabi extremists.

The Saudi Arabian government has added to the problem by launching its own offensive against northern Yemen.

While Riyadh insists that it is targeting Houthi positions on ‘Saudi territory’, the fighters say Saudi Arabia is bombing Yemeni villages with chemical weapons and causing the death of Shia civilians.

The sixth Manama Dialogue summit kicked off with a focus on the security situation in the Persian Gulf. More than three-hundred delegates from 25 countries are taking part in the three-day summit.

As the Saudi invaders step up their offensives against the Houthis in northern Yemen, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani slams the Riyadh government for killing “their Muslim brothers.”

“We did not expect the Islamic Saudi government to bombard Muslims in Yemen…It was sedition,” Larijani said in a meeting with clerics in the northern province of Golistan.

The Iranian parliament speaker said Riyadh’s actions throughout history showed the country has losd its “honor” in the world of Islam.

“After the Zionist regime’s attack on Lebanon (in 2006), the Saudis did not defend the Lebanese resistance. They did not support the Palestinians during Israel’s attack on Gaza,” he said.

“Such reactions are not appropriate for Saudi Arabia as an important Islamic country,” Larijani said.

Riyadh has recently reinforced the Yemeni government’s offensive against the Houthis, claiming that the Shia fighters have penetrated into the Saudi territory.

The fighters say Saudi Arabia is bombing Yemeni villages with chemical weapons, killing large numbers of civilians.

Larijani described the Saudi claims of Houthis fighting in the Saudi territory as allegations made to “deceive” Muslims.

“I advise our Saudi friends not to spill the blood of their Muslim brothers. The dispute in Yemen cannot be resolved through militarily ways,” Larijani said.

Larijani added that if Saudi missiles should be aimed at any where, it should be Israel.

After a Kuwaiti daily claimed that the Islamic Republic has called on the Islamic Resistance Movement of Hamas to swing into action in violence-ridden parts of Yemen, Iran moves to flatly reject the allegation.

In an article published on Wednesday, Kuwait’s al-Seyassah newspaper claimed that after “the depth of Iran’s involvement” in the conflict in Yemen was revealed, Iran called on the Damascus-based Hamas leader, Khaled Mashaal, to take responsibility for Iran’s alleged actions in Yemen’s violence-ridden province of Sa’ada.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Embassy in Damascus issued a statement on Wednesday, saying the Kuwaiti paper is “notorious” for spreading false and baseless information.

“Al-Seyassah daily is notorious for publishing unfounded reports and the public opinion in the region is well aware of the biased approach of this paper,” read the statement.

Yemen has been fighting a war in its northern mountains near the border with Saudi Arabia against a Shia tribal group known as the Houthis, which has resulted in a humanitarian crisis in the region.

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by the fighting and shelling while hundreds have been killed and wounded in the clashes.

The government accuses the Houthis of seeking to restore a religious rule, which ended in a republican coup in 1962, as well as violating the terms of an armistice by taking foreign visitors hostage in 2009.

The Houthis say they demand an end to social, economic and political ‘discrimination’ against Shias in Yemen as well as Saudi-backed attempts to spread Wahhabism — a sect that preaches controversial and violent actions — in the north and accuse the government of widespread corruption.