Iran urges direct aid flights to war-torn Yemen

Iran on Friday called on the UN and the world's countries to help send relief aid to Yemen through direct flights to the war-torn Arab country.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, made the request during a telephonic conversation with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov on Friday, Press TV reported.

The Iranian official lashed out at Saudi Arabia for blocking humanitarian aid to Yemen as well as violating a five-day ceasefire in its military air campaign against Yemen, which took effect on Tuesday.

Amir-Abdollahian described the humanitarian situation in Yemen as catastrophic and said the Saudi truce in Yemen was merely a show.

The Russian official, on his part, called on the global community to take serious measures to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia started its military aggression against Yemen on March 26 in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which currently controls the capital, Sanaa, and other major provinces, and to restore power to Yemen's fugitive President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who is a staunch ally of Riyadh.

According to Yemen's Freedom House Foundation, the Saudi airstrikes have claimed the lives of 3,979 Yemeni people so far while 6,887 others have been wounded.

Gen. Sharaf Luqman, a spokesperson for Yemen's Army, on Thursday issued a stern threat against Saudi Arabia, saying any further violation of a five-day-long ceasefire in the war-torn country would be met with a strong response.

"We the armed forces, and the popular committees, and Ansarullah, announce our commitment to this ceasefire," Luqman noted, adding, "The ceasefire began and minutes later the infringements began with acts of aggression after aggression."

An Iranian ship with tonnes of much-needed aid, including food and medical supplies, has already left the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas for war-torn Yemen. The ship is now heading towards the Yemeni port city of Hudaidah.