Iran vows to protect interests in Yemen

Iran’s deputy foreign minister said Tehran will not let regional powers jeopardize its security interests in Yemen, Tasnim news agency reported, in the strongest acknowledgement yet of Iranian involvement in the Arabian peninsula.

Iran has denied accusations from Western and Arab states that it is arming Shiite Muslim Houthi militia in Yemen. But it has regularly condemned a Saudi-led air campaign against the insurgents.

“Others will not be allowed to put our shared security at risk with military adventures,” Hossein Amir Abdollahian said, according to the Iranian Tasnim news agency in an article published on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia, which sees itself as the guardian of Sunni Islam, has long vied for influence with Iran, the region’s main Shiite Muslim power.

The Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out air strikes in Yemen since late March against the Houthis and their allies, whose rapid advances forced Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government into exile in Riyadh.

Iran does not recognize Hadi and has portrayed the air strikes as an intervention in Yemen’s internal affairs.

Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia said coalition jets destroyed the runway of Yemen’s Sanaa airport to prevent an Iranian cargo plane from landing there.