Iran’s president-elect says bond with Yemen ‘unbreakable’ in meeting with Ansarallah spox

The Cradle, July 30, 2024 — 

Masoud Pezeshkian met with Yemen’s Mohammed Abdul Salam ahead of his swearing-in as the ninth president of the Islamic Republic.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met with the spokesman of the Yemeni Ansarallah movement, Mohammed Abdul Salam, IRNA reported on 30 July.

During the meeting, the new Iranian president described the relations between Iran and Yemen as “unbreakable” and lauded Yemen’s support of Palestinians in Gaza in the face of Israel’s genocide.

“The moves of Yemen in defending the Palestinian nation have been highly important and influential and they have put the Zionist regime and its supporters under pressure,” the president remarked.

“The resistance of the Yemeni nation in the face of pressures and hostilities by the oppressors is also admirable,” Pezeshkian added.

The Iranian president affirmed the need for the cooperation of Islamic countries to end the oppression of Muslims.

Iran and Yemen are members of the Axis of Resistance, which seeks to end US and Israeli hegemony in West Asia.

Axis members Hamas and Hezbollah are battling Israel in Gaza and Lebanon, respectively. Yemen is imposing a blockade on the Red Sea for Israeli-linked ships and has targeted Israel with missiles and drones. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has also targeted Israel with missiles and drones.

Yemen’s Abdul Salam is visiting Iran to participate in the swearing-in ceremony of the new Iranian president.

Reformist Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old former heart surgeon, defeated conservative Saeed Jalili in a July 5 presidential election runoff with nearly 54 percent of the vote, compared to Jalili’s just over 44 percent.

Iran held early presidential elections after president Ibrahim Raisi was killed along with foreign minister Amir Abdollahian and six others in a helicopter crash in May.

President Pezeshkian’s swearing-in ceremony will be held on Tuesday at 4:00 pm Tehran time in the general hall of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. National and military officials, foreign officials, and delegations from 80 countries will attend.

Pezeshkian officially became the ninth president of the Islamic Republic on Sunday when Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei gave his seal of approval in a ceremony. Members of his cabinet are expected to be announced after Tuesday’s formality in parliament.