Iran condemned the military intervention by its main regional rival Saudi Arabia in Yemen as genocide and summoned the Saudi charge d'affaires, sharply escalating Tehran's rhetoric against the two-week-old campaign of airstrikes.



Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Saudi Arabia would not emerge victorious from the war in Yemen, where Iran-allied Houthi fighters who control the capital Sanaa have been trying to seize the southern city of Aden from local militias.



Iran has repeatedly urged a halt in the airstrikes and called for dialogue in Yemen, but Khamenei's comments are the most critical yet from Tehran about the offensive by Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies.



Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also criticized the coalition assembled by Riyadh, saying it was repeating errors committed in other parts of the Arab world where Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran back rival sides.



They were speaking a day after Iran said it was sending two warships to sea off Yemen and a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition repeated Riyadh's accusations -- denied by Iran -- that it has trained and equipped the Shi'ite Houthi forces.

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