A senior Iraqi Shia cleric has denounced the United States for launching airstrikes against Yemen, stating that Washington committed a “terrible mistake” by expanding the scope of the military onslaught against Gaza to target installations deep inside Yemeni territories.
Speaking at a ceremony in the holy city of Najaf on Saturday, head of the National Wisdom Movement (Hikma), Ammar Hakim, called upon the US administration to rectify its misstep, and come to terms with unfolding developments in the region.
He stated that the entire world is changing, and West Asia stands at the forefront of changes in relation to power balances, social developments and political equations.
“The Zionist regime has infringed upon all codes of ethics and overstepped all limits by massacring and starving women and children. Despite calls from various countries and international institutions for peace and cessation of hostilities, Israel relentlessly continues its crimes against the Palestinian nation,” Hakim pointed out.
The senior Iraqi Shia cleric went on to argue that the silence of the international community and apathy towards ongoing brutalities in Gaza has emboldened the occupying Tel Aviv regime.
“Our Arab and Muslim fundamentals require us to stand shoulder to shoulder with our Palestinian brethren, and mightily defend them. The Palestinian issue is a matter of dignity, freedom and resilience and is found upon consciousness,” Hakim noted.
He added that “the United States made a terrible mistake by supporting the Zionist regime and expanding the scope of the war in the region to include Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement.”
The head of the Iraqi National Wisdom Movement underscored that Muslim and Arab nations support the formulation of an optimal solution to the Palestinian conflict, which ensures an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and entry of sufficient humanitarian aid into the besieged territory, reconstruction of the war-torn territory, and restoration of full rights of Palestinians to establish an independent sovereign state with al-Quds as its capital.
The US and Britain have been carrying out strikes against Yemen after Washington and its allies offered the Tel Aviv regime their unqualified support and said that Yemeni forces bear the consequences of their attacks against Israeli-linked ships sailing to and from the occupied territories.
Yemenis have declared their open support for Palestine’s struggle against the Israeli occupation since the regime launched a devastating war on Gaza on October 7 after the territory’s Palestinian resistance movements carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm.
The Yemeni Armed Forces have said they won’t stop retaliatory strikes.
The maritime attacks have forced some of the world’s biggest shipping and oil companies to suspend transit through one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes.
Tankers are instead adding thousands of miles to international shipping routes by sailing around the continent of Africa rather than going through the Suez Canal.
