Iran on Sunday requested help from the United Nations to send a plane to Yemen to evacuate the wounded from a deadly air strike on a funeral ceremony.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif expressed "shock and indignation" over the air strikes that killed more than 140 mourners and injured over 525 on Saturday.

The Iran-backed Huthi rebels blamed the Saudi-led coalition for the attack, one of the deadliest since it launched a military campaign against the Shiite insurgents in March 2015.

"Not only Saudi Arabia, but also those who have supported the aggression by the Saudi-led coalition against Yemeni people should be held accountable for the war crimes perpetrated in Yemen over the past year and a half," Zarif wrote in a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Zarif asked Ban to help the Iranian Red Crescent make arrangements to send a plane with humanitarian supplies to Sanaa and to evacuate the wounded for treatment in hospitals in Iran.

"In view of the gravity of the situation in Yemen and the devastation caused by the attacks against the funeral hall, the Iranian Red Crescent Society is proposing to arrange for humanitarian assistance, including medical supplies, to the Yemeni people and evacuating the injured to hospitals in Iran," wrote Zarif.

Ban earlier condemned the attack and called for an investigation of the air strikes.

Yemen's rebel ex-president urges mobilisation against Saudi
Sanaa (AFP) Oct 9, 2016 –

Yemen's rebel-allied former president Ali Abdullah Saleh called Sunday for mobilisation along the border with Saudi Arabia to avenge deadly air strikes on a funeral blamed on a Saudi-led coalition.

"I call upon all members of the armed forces, security and popular committees (militia)… to head to the front, to the borders, to take revenge," he said in a televised address.

Saleh, who stepped down in 2012 following nationwide protests and a Saudi-sponsored peace initiative, commands troops that have defected and sided with Iran-backed Shiite rebels, who overran the Yemeni capital in September 2014.

"We should avenge our casualties… those killed in army bases as well as in markets, including heinous massacres, and the greatest of those is the massacre of the (funeral) hall," which was struck on Saturday.

More than 140 people were killed and at least 525 others were wounded in air raids on a funeral hall in Sanaa.

Saleh urged measures "to receive fighters on the fronts with Najran, Jizan and Assir" across the frontier with "backward" Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi-led coalition has pledged to probe the strikes, while UN chief Ban Ki-Moon urged an "impartial" investigation into the attack.

The coalition has been repeatedly criticised over the civilian casualties in its campaign in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi against the rebels, which began in March 2015.

Arab coalition says to probe Yemen raid that killed 140
Riyadh (AFP) Oct 9, 2016 –

The Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen said Sunday it is ready to investigate together with the United States an air strike on a funeral ceremony in Sanaa that killed more than 140 people.

The Iran-backed Huthi rebels have blamed the Arab coalition for Saturday's attack, one of the deadliest since it launched a military campaign against the Shiite insurgents in March last year.

But after initially denying any responsibility, the coalition said it was ready to launch a probe into the "regrettable and painful" strike, which a UN official said also wounded more than 525 people.

"The coalition will immediately investigate this case along with Joint Incidents Assessment Team in Yemen and experts from the United States who participated in previous investigations," it said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.

"The coalition is also willing to provide the investigation team with any data and information related to its military operations today, at the incident's location and the surrounding areas," it said.

"The result of the investigation should be announced as soon as it's completed."

The UN humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, said aid workers were "shocked and outraged" by the attacks that hit a community hall in the Yemeni capital where mourners had gathered.

Following the report, the United States said it would review its support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

"We are deeply disturbed by reports of today's air strike on a funeral hall in Yemen, which, if confirmed, would continue the troubling series of attacks striking Yemeni civilians," White House National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

"In light of this and other recent incidents, we have initiated an immediate review of our already significantly reduced support to the Saudi-led coalition and are prepared to adjust our support so as to better align with US principles, values and interests, including achieving an immediate and durable end to Yemen's tragic conflict."

Price stressed that "US security cooperation with Saudi Arabia is not a blank check", and called on all sides to implement an "immediate" ceasefire.

In August, the US military announced it had slashed its number of intelligence advisers supporting the Saudi-led coalition following concerns over civilian casualties.

In its statement, the coalition expressed its "deepest condolences and support to the families of the victims of hostilities since the coup takeover of power in Yemen during 2014".

"The coalition confirms that its troops have clear instructions not to target populated areas and to avoid civilians," said the Saudi-led alliance.

The coalition — which also comprises Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, Qatar, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates — has faced repeated criticism from rights groups over civilian casualties in its campaign in Yemen.