Yemen rebels announce ceasefire
cast on state TV.
“We are after punishment and we will continue until the full destruction of any aggressor.”
I r an’s f oreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif earlier denounced renewed US sanctions against its central bank following the Saudi attacks on September 14 as an attempt to deny ordinary Iranians access to food and medicine.
The US on Friday imposed a new round of sanctions on Iran, some aimed at its central bank and sovereign wealth fund. CAIRO: Yemen’s Houthi rebels said late on Friday night that they were halting drone and missile attacks against Saudi Arabia, one week after they claimed responsibility for a strike that crippled a key oil facility in the kingdom.
The US and the Saudis blamed the September 14 attack on Iran, which backs the Houthi rebels fighting a Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen.
Mahdi al-mashat, head of the Houthis’ supreme political council, which runs rebel-held areas in Yemen, said the group is waiting for a “positive response” from Saudi Arabia. His comments were carried by the Houthi-run al-masirah satellite TV.
The announcement could be a first step toward a wider ceasefire in Yemen, but it remained unclear, and there was no immediate response from the Saudi-led coalition.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres expressed concern about a coalition airstrike early on Friday around al-hali district, north of the port city of Hodeida in Yemen. Guterres appealed for restraint.