WASHINGTON: United States President Joe Biden has announced to stop US support for Saudi-led military offensive operations in Yemen.
According to media reports, in his first visit to State Department, Biden tapped Tim Lenderking, deputy assistant secretary of State for Iran, Iraq, and regional multilateral affairs, to oversee the U.S. diplomatic mission to end the war in Yemen.
The US president said that the war has created a humanitarian and strategic crisis and this war has to stop. Though, Biden said: “Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks, UAV (drone) strikes and other threats from Iranian-supplied forces in multiple countries. We’re going to keep on to support Saudi Arabia defend its sovereignty and its territorial integrity and its people,” he added.
Biden further said, “I have asked my Middle East team to make sure our help for the United Nations’ initiative to enforce a ceasefire, open humanitarian channels and restore long-dormant peace talks.”
“Tim’s diplomacy will be bolstered by USAID working to ensure humanitarian aid is reaching the Yemeni nation who is suffering a painful devastation,” he maintained.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has welcomed Biden’s statement, especially his commitment to the country’s defense and addressing threats against it. The decision to end offensive operations in Yemen is part of changes in US foreign policy and to normalize the situation that has aggravated due to US intervention.
More than 110,000 people are estimated to have been killed during the war, which broke out in 2014. The clash, which has left millions of Yemenis on the brink of starvation, initially involved the Yemeni government losing ground to an uprising by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
