Ankara: The commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards accused Saudi Arabia on Monday of following in Israel’s footsteps in the Islamic world by carrying out air strikes in Yemen, the official IRNA news agency reported.

A Saudi-led alliance began bombing Iranian-allied Houthi militia in Yemen last month, seeing a threat from their advances across the Arabian Peninsula state. Riyadh also wants to restore Yemen’s president, forced into exile by the Houthis.

General Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of Shia Muslim Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, said Sunni Saudi Arabia — Tehran’s arch regional adversary — was ‘shamelessly and disgracefully bombing and killing a nation’.

‘Saudi Arabia is following in the Zionist (Israel) regime’s footsteps in the Islamic world,’ Jafari was quoted as saying by IRNA.

The United States and Saudi Arabia have accused Iran of arming the Shi’ite Houthis. The Islamic Republic says it gives only political and humanitarian support to the Houthis.