Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not agree with the manner in which the Tánaiste presents this war. The Minister described it as the Saudi and UAE administrations backing the internationally recognised government against the Houthi, who are recognised by Iran. The Minister referred to the internationally recognised government there. Hadi was put in place in 2011 as a puppet of the US-Saudi alliance. Unfortunately, this happened with the involvement of the UN. The UN has not covered itself with glory in this area.

Reference has been made to the opposition there. The notion that this is a war against the Houthi only is rubbish. A total of six different groups are involved. The people of Yemen are on the other side. It so happens that the Houthi are one of the groups who garnered arms initially. The notion that Iran is getting arms to the Houthi now is not backed up by any evidence. No one has come up with evidence that Iran is giving weapons to the Houthi. Iran says openly that it supports the Houthi politically. Iran tried to bring medicines and food in a civilian airplane to Yemen. The Saudis did not attack the airplane but they bombed the airport where the airplane was supposed to land to stop the supplies from getting through. Iran has tried to bring medicines and food to the Yemeni, not arms. That is the story that is being peddled all the time. RTÉ cannot mention the Houthi but refer instead to the Iranian-backed rebels. There is no evidence for the claims. This is a Saudi-UAE invasion against the people of Yemen. They are starving the people there to death.

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