Brian Hook: If Iran is not countered in Yemen, conflict risk will increase
The United States envoy on Iran, Brian Hook, said on
Friday that if Iran was not countered in Yemen, the risk of a regional conflict
in the Middle East will increase.
“Iran’s efforts to use surrogates to attack Saudi
Arabia and destabilize the region needs to be countered,” he said.
It is important that Iran “does not gain a foothold
in Yemen” to threaten the strait of Bab al-Mandeb, he added.
The envoy also said it was important to de-escalate
tensions with Iran.
“Our diplomacy does not give Iran the right to
respond with military force, Iran needs to meet our diplomacy with diplomacy
and not military force,” he told a news conference in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
“It's important we do everything we can to de-escalate.”
US sanctions on Iran have denied it “tens of
billions of dollars in revenues for the IRGC to launch attacks directly or
indirectly,” according to Hook, who also called Saudi Arabia “very helpful” in
ensuring a stable oil market amid fears of energy disruption because of growing
military tension in the Middle East.
