UNITED NATIONS — Iran's foreign minister urged U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday to try to end "the senseless aerial attacks" in Yemen by a Saudi-led coalition and establish a cease-fire.

Javad Zarif said in a letter, obtained by The Associated Press, that airstrikes by the regional coalition of Sunni Muslim countries are destroying hospitals, schools, roads, food factories and power plants, and have targeted residential areas including refugee camps, killing and injuring innocent civilians.

"This critical situation is escalating and the humanitarian crisis in Yemen is approaching catastrophic dimensions," he said. "It may result in further exacerbation of the already tense circumstances in a region that has been plagued by one of the most barbaric types of extremism and multi-pronged vicious campaign of foreign-backed terrorists."

Zarif said "terrorist groups have been the main beneficiaries, gaining strategic foothold in Yemen aided by the foreign aerial campaign."

Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, has been pushed to the brink of collapse by ground fighting and the Saudi-led airstrikes in support of current President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia as Shiite Houthi rebels swept south from their stronghold near the Saudi border.

Observers say the fighting in the strategic Mideast nation is taking on the appearance of a proxy war between Iran, the Shiite powerhouse backing the Houthis, and Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia.

The airstrikes, which began March 26, have so far failed to halt the rebels' advance and, according to the U.N. humanitarian office, has led to hundreds of deaths and displaced at least 150,000 people.

Zarif reiterated that there is no military solution to the conflict in Yemen and said all efforts, particularly by the U.N., should be aimed at implementing a cease-fire and ending all "foreign military attacks," providing urgent humanitarian aid, resuming a "Yemeni-led and Yemeni-owned national dialogue" and establishing an inclusive national unity government.

Zarif said Iran is ready to assist Ban in advancing consultations with the parties "to facilitate and encourage an immediate end to these senseless bombardments and initiation of a genuine dialogue to find a political solution to this tragic crisis."

The letter spells out what Zarif first proposed Tuesday during a visit to Spain. The letter does not address Saudi claims that Tehran has been giving the Houthis military support, which both Iran and the rebels deny.

Zarif's letter was sent a day after al-Qaida's branch in Yemen consolidated control over much of the country's largest province, capturing a major airport, an oil terminal and the area's main military base, and striking an alliance with local tribal leaders to administer the region. On Friday, it routed government forces from a large weapons depot in the country's east.

The gains by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, considered by the U.S. to be the world's most dangerous branch of the terror network, highlight how the group has exploited the chaos in Yemen.

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