Speaking to a reporter on Sunday, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, Iranian member of Parliament said although U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon publicly acknowledged that he removed the Saudi-led coalition currently bombing Yemen from a blacklist of child killers, he should add Saudi Arabia to the UN blacklist in a brave move, since it is the United Nations responsibility to support nations, especially in the killing of hundreds of Yemeni children by the Saudis.
The former chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian Parliament went on to say that Saudi Arabia has killed lots of innocent civilians in Yemenso not only the UN should put the name of the regime in the blacklist back but should bring Saudi leaders to justice for their war crimes.
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Yemeni children walk on stones in front of buildings that were damaged by Saudi air strikes on March 23, 2016 in the UNESCO-listed old city of the Yemeni capital Sanaa. (AFP)[/caption]Last month, the Saudi-led coalition was put on a blacklist over its role in the deaths of children in Yemen. The U.N. report, which annually shames the worst perpetrators, claimed that the coalition was responsible for 60% of the 1,953 children recorded as killed or maimed in the conflict in 2015.
The Saudis vigorously disputed the report and applied full court pressure with a threat to cut off funding to UN programs if the organization did not remove the country from a blacklist of groups violating children's rights in the attack on Yemen.
After much insistence from the Saudis, the UN dropped the coalition from the blacklist earlier this week. Human rights organizations roundly blasted the UN, describing the decision as "caving" and "pandering."
Saudi Arabia launched its military aggression against Yemen on March 26, 2015 in a bid to bring Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi a staunch ally of Riyadh who resigned from the presidency back to power. More than 9,400 people have been killed and at least 16,000 others injured since the onset of the aggression.
