TEHRAN — The Islamic Republic of Iran has condemned attacks at an airport in Yemen’s southern city of Aden, which claimed the lives of more than 20 people.

In a statement on Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, blaming the continued foreign aggression and occupation of the Yemeni soil as the key contributors to instability as well as a lack of order and enforcement of law, that have jeopardized the country’s territorial integrity.

A large explosion struck the airport in the southern Yemeni city of Aden on Wednesday, shortly after a plane carrying the newly formed Saudi-backed cabinet landed there, security officials said.

Yemen’s Interior Ministry said least 26 people were killed and more than 50 were wounded in the blast, according to Al Jazeera.

The source of the explosion was not immediately clear and no group claimed responsibility for attacking the airport. No one on the government plane was hurt.

“Such acts of violence and the killing of civilians are the results of the mentality of aggressors and occupiers of Yemen, who, in the name of a self-styled coalition, have destroyed the whole of Yemen, and, with their bellicose and secessionist views, have perpetrated the most heinous human crisis in Yemen,” Khatibzadeh said.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns the aggressors’ acts of aggression and war, and stresses a political solution to the crisis, and once again asks all parties to end the futile conflict by returning to political negotiations,” he added.

Hours after the attack, a second explosion was heard around Aden’s Maasheq presidential palace where the cabinet members including Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik, as well as the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, had been taken to safety, residents and local media said.

It was unclear what caused the second blast and there were no immediate reports of casualties.

An AFP correspondent at the airport said he heard two explosions. “At least two explosions were heard as the cabinet members were leaving the aircraft,” the correspondent said.

The UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, condemned the explosion as an “unacceptable act of violence.” He said in a tweet that the attack was “a tragic reminder of the importance of bringing #Yemen urgently back on the path towards peace.”

MH/PA