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Yemen slams US, UK interference after death sentences for convicted spies

Iran Press TV

Friday, 28 November 2025 6:20 AM

Yemen has condemned the US and UK for criticizing recent death sentences issued against individuals convicted of espionage, calling the remarks a "blatant and unacceptable interference" in the country's judicial affairs.

In a statement released Thursday, Yemen's Foreign Ministry said Washington and London are meddling in domestic matters after their embassies denounced the rulings.

The ministry insisted that Yemen's judiciary functions independently and noted that judges had already delivered verdicts in cases involving espionage cells working for foreign governments.

Any attempt by the US, the UK, or other parties to question these rulings, the ministry said, represents "blatant and unacceptable interference" in Yemen's internal affairs and an infringement on judicial independence.

It further said that the US has no credibility to lecture other nations on justice or human rights, adding that "its hands are stained with the blood of innocents in many parts of the world," with particular reference to Gaza, where the US-backed Israeli regime has killed nearly 70,000 Palestinians since October 2023.

The ministry also said that US criticism of the verdicts "proves its involvement in espionage activities against Yemen and its attempts to protect the agents it used for this purpose."

The condemnation followed separate statements by the US and UK embassies in Yemen, which claimed the rulings were "arbitrary", calling for the immediate release of the convicted spies.

On Saturday, Yemen's Specialized Criminal Court in Sana'a sentenced 17 people to death on charges of spying for the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia and Israel. The executions were ordered to be carried out by firing squad in a public place.

The court found the defendants guilty of colluding with the four governments and supplying intelligence during 2024 and 2025.

Judges said the group had been involved in recruiting others, planting surveillance devices and providing detailed information on missile sites, storage depots and senior officials.

The rulings said this intelligence enabled attacks on military, security and civilian targets inside Yemen, causing dozens of deaths and widespread destruction.

The court also handed 10-year prison terms to a man and a woman in related cases and acquitted one defendant.

According to the court documents, Mossad operatives had equipped the group with encrypted communication tools, location-tracking applications and covert cameras, and trained them in their use.

These verdicts came weeks after the Interior Ministry announced the dismantling of a spy network jointly run by Israel's Mossad, the CIA and Saudi Arabia's General Intelligence Presidency.

Authorities said the network had operated from a joint room in Saudi Arabia, where it coordinated sabotage and intelligence-gathering operations against Yemen.

The ministry said recruits were trained on Saudi territory by US, Israeli and Saudi officers in surveillance techniques, reporting methods and covert procedures.

Mahdi al-Mashat, head of Yemen's Supreme Political Council, said at the time that the espionage ring had aimed to undermine Yemen's support for Palestine.

He linked the network's activities to the country's operations in support of Gaza beginning in November 2023. Those operations targeted ships with Israeli links and struck sites inside the occupied territories. Yemen has ceased the operations since a fragile ceasefire took hold in Gaza since last month.

Meanwhile, Israel and the US have carried out rounds of deadly aerial assaults across Yemen in flagrant violation of international law and the UN Charter.