Iran: US' withdrawal from Saudi-led military offensive in Yemen does not end 'war'

The United States shifted its foreign policies in the Middle East to a 'less destructive posture, announcing that it will no longer support the Saudi-led military coalition on Yemen, Iran. The US asserted that Joe Biden's withdrawal 'can help fix past mistakes' but will not put an end to Yemen’s six-year-long war. In a statement issued by Iran’s Foreign Ministry, the Islamic Republic, that backs Houthis, stated that the US’ strategic policy shift to halt arms sale deals in UAE and support withdrawal for a military offensive by Saudi-led coalition of Gulf States will not resolve the conflict in the war-torn region. Iran’s remarks come in the backdrop of its Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's warning earlier, that the time for the US to re-enter the JCPOA and ease trade embargo was 'running out'. 

Earlier, at the State Department foreign policy address Thursday, US president Joe Biden outlined US strategic shift in policy since the Obama administration, announcing that the US was "ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen". In a live-streamed address, Biden said that he was halting the arms sales to Saudi, adding that the US, at the same time, acknowledges that Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks, UAV strikes, and other threats from "Iranian-supplied forces in multiple countries". 

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Support to eradicate terrorist groups

Therefore, reaffirming his support for the Saudi government, Biden said: “We [US] are going to help Saudi Arabia defend its sovereignty and its territorial integrity and its people.” Meanwhile, a White House official, told the press that the US will show continued support to eradicate terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda or ISIS, who are a direct threat to American democracy. “There is no military solution to the war in Yemen,” the White House spokesperson said, hinting at a more diplomatic approach as it appointed  Tim Lenderking as the administration’s special envoy for Yemen. “The war has created a humanitarian and strategic catastrophe,” Biden told diplomats in his first visit to the State Department as president. ”This war has to end.”

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