Syrian media: Saudi-led Yemen action is 'blatant aggression'

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria expressed deep concern about what it called "blatant aggression" in Yemen after a Saudi-led military operation was launched against Shi'ite rebels on Thursday, the state news agency SANA reported. Damascus urges Yemeni parties to engage in dialogue and reach a political solution to their rivalry, according to a Foreign Ministry source quoted by Syrian state television. The Syrian government led by President Bashar al-Assad is an ally of Iran, which is in turn allied with the Yemeni Houthi rebels fighting to oust the country's U.S.-backed president. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have been important sponsors of the insurgency against Assad. "Gulf war planes led by the regime of the Saudi family launch a blatant aggression on Yemen," read a headline carried on SANA's website. The state television report quoted the Foreign Ministry source as saying: "Syria emphasises the respect for Yemen's sovereignty, independence and the unity of its land and people, it calls on Yemeni sides to engage in dialogue with each other to reach a political solution that meets the aspirations of the Yemeni people." The Syrian crisis now in its fifth year has been another major theatre where Saudi-Iranian rivalry has played out in a regional conflict that has taken on a sectarian dimension pitching Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims against each other. Shi'ite Islamist-led Iran has given military and financial backing to the Syrian government led by Assad, a member of the Shi'ite-linked Alawite sect. The Iranian-backed Shi'ite Lebanese group Hezbollah has battled alongside the Syrian army against the Sunni-dominated insurgency, which has been sponsored by states including Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and is now dominated by jihadist groups. (Writing by Tom Perry and Mariam Karouny; Editing by Tom Heneghan)