Iran plans to announce the appointment of a new ambassador in Yemen after the death of the previous envoy Hasan Irlu, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday, reports Reuters.
Tehran said on December 21 that Irlu, its envoy in the Yemeni capital Sanaa that is controlled by the Iran-aligned Houthi group, died of COVID-19 after being repatriated in mid-December.
Iran accused Saudi Arabia of having delaying his departure from Sanaa, a charge the Saudi government denied.
“We are in the process of announcing a new ambassador” in Sanaa, Khatibzadeh told a news conference.
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A Saudi-led coalition that has been battling Houthi forces in support of Yemen’s internationally recognised government for more than six years has imposed a sea and air blockade on Houthi-controlled areas.
The coalition intervened in Yemen against the Houthis after they ousted the Yemeni government from Sanaa in north Yemen. The government is now based in the southern Yemeni port of Aden.
It was earlier reported that, according to the Spokesman of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Iranian Ambassador to the National Salvation Government of Yemen passed away due to COVID-19 in Tehran.
Iran Press/ Iran News: Infected with the coronavirus in Yemen, Hasan Irlu returned to Tehran with his condition severed due to some countries’ late cooperation.
Irlu finally passed away on Tuesday morning, despite practicing all the necessary treatment measures.
Irlu was a chemically injured veteran in the US-backed Iraqi war on Iran.
Under former President Donald Trump, the US imposed sanctions and described Irlu as a member of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
