Riyadh paying hush money to sideline Yemen war: Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi

A senior Iranian cleric says Saudi Arabia is paying hush money to the so-called advocates of human rights to keep them silent on the Riyadh regime’s ongoing crimes in war-hit Yemen.

Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem-Shirazi on Tuesday night criticized the international community for failing to react to Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against the Yemeni people.

“A government like Saudi Arabia drops bombs on the defenseless [Yemeni] people, but the [so-called] advocates of human rights and justice are silent,” the cleric said, adding that “Saudi dollars are paid to them as bribe” to make them seal their lips.

Yemen has been the target of military strikes by Saudi Arabia since March 26.

At least 69 people were killed and dozens of others sustained injuries in the latest Saudi attacks against the impoverished country on Wednesday.

Local Yemeni sources say more than 4,500 people have been killed since Riyadh launched its military campaign more than three months ago.

Last week, the UN designated the war in Yemen as a Level 3 humanitarian crisis, its most severe category.