The Extraordinary Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), held in Jeddah Sunday (Jan.21) condemned in the strongest words the firing towards Riyadh of Iranian-made ballistic missile by the Yemeni Houthi militias.
The council decried the missile firing as an aggression on Saudi Arabia, and as an evidence of the Iranian-backed Houthi militias’ refusal to cooperate with the international community and accept international resolutions to end the crisis in Yemen.
The council condemned Iran for continuing to provide Houthi militias with arms, particularly Iranian-made ballistic missiles; denounced its intervention in some countries of the region and called on Tehran to stop policies that are likely to fuel factional and sectarian conflicts, and to abstain from supporting and financing terrorist groups.
The meeting, which voiced support to Saudi Arabia against any attempts to undermine its security, called upon OIC Member States and the international community to take earnest and effective steps to prevent this kind of attack from recurring, and to prosecute all parties responsible for smuggling in weapons, providing training and continued support to the Houthi militias.
Moroccan Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Mounia Boucetta who took part in the meeting underlined that Morocco will not accept any attack against the Holy Places of Islam, against Saudi Arabia or any other Gulf or Arab State.
She reiterated Morocco’s condemnation of the repeated attacks against Saudi Arabia by the Houthi militias and its support to all the measures that the Saudi brotherly Kingdom would take, in accordance with international legitimacy, against these repeated attacks targeting its sovereignty and security.
The Moroccan official also stressed the need to reach a peaceful and political solution to the crisis in Yemen on the basis of the Gulf Initiative and the outcomes of Yemen’s Comprehensive National Dialogue Conference.
The Ministerial Contact Group on Yemen, which brings together 17 countries including Morocco, convened on the sidelines of the OIC ministerial meeting.
In its Final Communiqué, the Contact Group reiterated its strong commitment to standing with Yemen’s unity, sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity and the rejection of any interference in its internal affairs. It also stressed the need to continue joint and determined work to avoid that Yemen turn into a haven for violent groups and terrorist organizations and a source of threat to the security and stability of neighboring countries.
It also reaffirmed support for and solidarity with the Yemeni people and their aspirations for freedom, democracy, social justice and comprehensive development and called on the OIC Member States to intensify and coordinate their efforts with a view to reaching a political solution to the Yemeni crisis, support the legitimate State authorities, and provide more humanitarian and development assistance.
