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Yemen cuts ties with Iran after Bahrain expels Iran diplomat
Fighters against Shiite rebels prepare to leave Aden, Yemen, for the strait of Bab al-Mandab, west of the southern port city, to take back the control of the strait, while gathering on a road on Thursday
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span class="inline inline-center">Fighters against Shiite rebels prepare to leave Aden, Yemen, for the strait of Bab al-Mandab, west of the southern port city, to take back the control of the strait, while gathering on a road on Thursday. (AP/Wael Qubady)
Yemen's internationally recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi cut diplomatic ties with Iran, which it says arms and trains the country's Shiite rebels, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Friday.
The official did not offer further details and spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to brief reporters.
Friday's move comes after the Gulf nation of Bahrain, a member of the Saudi-led coalition of Arab armies fighting the rebels, expelled its Iranian ambassador and recalled its own ambassador over allegations that the Islamic Republic sponsored "subversion" and funneled arms to militants in the island kingdom.
Yemen has been torn by a ferocious war between the Saudi-backed government forces and the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, allied with army units loyal to a former president. The UN says at least 2,355 civilians have been killed in fighting in Yemen since March, when the Saudi-led coalition began launching airstrikes.
Earlier in the day, a senior operative in Yemen's al-Qaeda affiliate condemned the recent bombings of local Shiite mosques by the Islamic State group.
Both al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group regard Shiite Muslims as apostates. But in a video released early Friday, Khaled Batarfi said that al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri had both banned the practice of attacking mosques.
The IS group has claimed responsibility for two bombings outside Shiite mosques that killed more than 20 people, saying the attacks were a blow against the Shiite rebels who control the capital, Sanaa. Batarfi said the bombings, "killed far more Sunnis than Shiites."
