TEHRAN - The Iranian ambassador to Yemen has arrived in Iran and is receiving treatment for COVID-19 pandemic, Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Saturday.

Khatibzadeh said Hassan Irloo needed urgent medical attention days after contracting the infectious disease, Press TV reported.

The spokesman also expressed gratitude to the countries that helped the diplomat’s transfer to his homeland for treatment, praising their assistance as a “humanitarian act.”

“By the grace of God and with the help of some countries in the region, Mr. Irloo is being transferred to the country,” Khatibzadeh tweeted.

Giving further details at his weekly press briefing on Monday, Khatibzadeh said that bringing questions to the presser from Western media is a “validation of their false narratives.”

“Asking Western media questions is a validation of the false narratives and storytelling. Relations between Iran and the Yemeni National Salvation Government are stronger and closer than ever. The Islamic Republic of Iran remains committed to assisting the Yemeni people through all diplomatic and political means. Those who invent these news pieces should pay attention to the fact that the only way to help the Yemeni issue is to respect the will of the Yemeni people,” he added. 

Khatibzadeh then went on to say that Irloo needed immediate medical attention and this issue was on the agenda of Iran for several days.
He added that several countries in the region, including Iraq, helped Iran in this regard

“Irloo is in a stable state of health today. His coronavirus illness is acute and he needs to be under very special care, and we hope that he will recover as soon as possible and return to his mission,” he added, hinting that Irloo will return to Sanaa when recovered. 

Reportedly, the flight was organized following mediation by Iraq and Oman.
Meanwhile, the official spokesman for Yemen’s Ansarallah told Sabereen News that the Iranian ambassador was “severely ill.”

The spokesman added, “All rumors about problems between the ambassador and Ansarallah are untrue and baseless stories.” 

In Sanaa, Yemeni government spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam tweeted that an understanding between Iran and Saudi Arabia brokered by Iraq had allowed the ambassador's evacuation on health grounds.

Irloo officially began his diplomatic mission to Yemen in November 2020, in defiance of the United States’ anger at the two countries’ developing relations.

The United States added him to the list of its sanctions a month later.

The U.S. has played a key role in Saudi Arabia’s war against Yemen, which has caused the world’s worst humanitarian disaster in the impoverished Arab country.

Saudi Arabia launched the war in March 2015 with the goal of bringing former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi’s government back to power and crushing the popular Ansarullah resistance movement.

According to a UN report released last month, the death toll from the war will reach 377,000, including those killed as a result of indirect and direct causes, by the end of 2021.