Iran on Saturday condemned Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen, which resulted in the deaths of at least 90 people.
"The continuation of the [Saudi-led] coalition's military attacks on Yemen [which are carried out] amid the silence and indifference of the international community, the uncontrolled sale of weapons to the aggressors and adoption of biased approaches and double standard policies in international circles in the face of seven years of cruel aggression against the Yemeni people have made the path to achieve a just peace in the country even more difficult," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement quoted by PressTV.
He added that countries that sell weapons to the aggressors in Yemen and provide them with bombs and destructive arms, which have led to the killing of Yemeni women and children, are complicit in such crimes and should be held accountable in this regard.
The spokesperson’s statement follows Friday’s air strike on a prison run by Yemen's Houthi rebels. Earlier on Friday, a Saudi-led air strike in the port city of Hodeida hit a telecommunication center there that's key to Yemen's connection to the internet. Air strikes also hit near the capital Sanaa.
The Saudi-led coalition, however, on Saturday denied carrying out the air strike on the prison.
“These claims adopted by the militia are baseless and unfounded", said coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki, referring to the Iran-backed rebels, according to AFP.
Friday’s air strikes followed an attack on three oil tankers near Abu Dhabi National Oil Company storage tanks in the Mussafah district near Abu Dhabi this week.
The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen claimed responsibility for the explosions, Reuters reported, which were apparently the result of drone attacks.
The Houthis and their allies took over large parts of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, in 2015. A Saudi-led military coalition then intervened in Yemen to try to restore the government.
It has long been believed that Iran is planning to use the Houthis to take over Yemen and seize the key strategic port of Aden, which controls the entrance to the Red Sea and ultimately to the Israeli resort city of Eilat.
Iran denies it is backing the Houthis and has also denied Saudi Arabian accusations that Tehran provided the Houthi rebels in Yemen with ballistic capabilities.
Earlier this week, following the attack near Abu Dhabi, Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed asked US Secretary of State Tony Blinken to re-designate the Houthi rebels as a terrorist organization.
President Joe Biden later said his administration is considering agreeing to the UAE request.