Yemen’s Hadi recalls Tehran envoy: government source

Published May 14th, 2015 - 04:12 GMT
Diplomatic relations with Iran may sour as Yemen accuses the Islamic Republic of supporting Houthi rebels. (AFP/File)
Diplomatic relations with Iran may sour as Yemen accuses the Islamic Republic of supporting Houthi rebels. (AFP/File)

President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi on Thursday recalled Yemen's ambassador to Iran, a source from Yemen's presidency has said.

"President Hadi, who is currently in Riyadh, has ordered his ambassador to leave Tehran as soon as possible," the source said.

Yemeni authorities, however, along with their Iranian counterparts, have yet to officially announce the ambassador's withdrawal.

Earlier Thursday, Foreign Minister Riyadh Mansour was quoted by Yemen's official news agency as saying that his government was studying the possibility of severing diplomatic relations with Iran.

Hadi and his Gulf allies accuse Iran of supporting Yemen's Shiite Houthi militant group, which overran capital Sanaa late last year and has since extended its influence southward to other parts of the fractious country.

Since March 25, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies have been waging an extensive military campaign against Houthi positions across Yemen.

Riyadh says its air campaign comes in response to Hadi's appeals for military intervention against the Houthis.

Hadi fled to Riyadh in March after Houthi forces attacked his residence in Yemen's southern port city of Aden, from which he had hoped to reinstate his embattled presidency.

The Houthis, for their part, have denounced the air offensive as unwarranted "Saudi-American aggression" against Yemen.

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