Sanaa--Regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran traded accusations Tuesday over the escalating conflict in Yemen, which the UN rights chief warned was on the brink of "total collapse".
Explosions lit up the skies over the Yemeni capital overnight in the heaviest bombing raids yet of a six-day air war led by Riyadh against Shiite rebels.
The Huthi rebels and their ally, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, "decided with the support of Iran to destabilise Yemen," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said.
"We are not warmongers, but when they beat the drums of war we are ready," Saud told the Shura Council advisory body.
Tehran hit back, accusing Saudi Arabia of putting the entire Middle East in jeopardy.
"The fire of war in the region from any side... will drag the whole region to play with fire," Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said.
"We believe that the Saudi military attack against Yemen is a strategic mistake," he told reporters in Kuwait, calling for the air campaign to "stop immediately".
Iranian state media rejected as "utter lies" claims Tehran had sent arms to Yemen, but said it had dispatched non-military aid, including food and medicine, on Tuesday.
The coalition has vowed to keep up the strikes until the Huthi rebels end their uprising against President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who has fled to Saudi Arabia.
Kuwait's Al-Watan newspaper launched a vitriolic attack against Tehran, describing the air strikes as "the biggest blow to Iran in decades".
The coalition campaign "raises hopes of a historic success for the Arabs and a rout of one of their worst enemies: the Persian state," added the daily.
The war of words pitting Shiite Iran against its Sunni Arab neighbours came as marathon nuclear talks between Tehran and world powers entered a crucial phase in Switzerland.
AFP
