Top general: Israel’s assassination of Yemeni officials clear violation of int’l law
Iran’s top military commander on Monday strongly condemned Israel’s recent assassination of senior Yemeni officials as a “horrific war crime and terrorist attack as well as a clear violation of international law.”
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, in a message to the Yemeni nation said the assassination of Yemeni officials reflects the regime’s deep fear of the expansion of the Resistance Axis.
By extension, he added, the regime is fearful of growing unity among regional nations in defending the Palestinian cause of liberation from Israeli occupation and aggression.
Mousavi said such atrocities serve as yet another disgrace for the regime, which he called “the ringleader of terror and nurturer of terrorists worldwide.”
The message came after Israeli airstrikes on the Yemeni capital Sana’a claimed the lives of Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb al-Rahawi of the National Government of Change and Construction, and 11 officials serving across various other portfolios.
The assaults came in the context of the regime’s recurrent raids against the country.
The attacks began after Yemen’s Armed Forces started staging near-daily operations against sensitive Israeli targets in response to a genocidal war that Tel Aviv had launched on the Gaza Strip in October 2023.
The Iranian commander, however, asserted that such atrocities “will never weaken the revolutionary determination and faith-driven resolve of Yemen’s valiant fighters.”
The Yemeni nation has, through its sustained struggle, turned into a symbol of resistance against the global hegemonic system and a source of pride for the global Muslim nation, Mousavi concluded, and vowed continued support for the people on the part of the Islamic Republic.
On Monday, Yemen held a funeral for the assassinated officials.
Twelve coffins draped in flags were displayed at Sanaa's Al-Shaab mosque, as masked gunmen patrolled the area and thousands of mourners flooded in.
It was the highest profile assassination to be announced in months of attacks by Israel during the war on Gaza.
Yemen’s Armed Forces also fired a missile at an Israeli tanker in the Red Sea on Sunday, reprising a campaign they have waged throughout the Gaza war.
The missile landed close to the Liberian-flagged Scarlet Ray with a "loud bang," the UK Maritime Trade Operations monitoring agency said.