Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that the ongoing war in Yemen is going “very well,” and the legitimate Yemeni government now controls roughly 75 percent of the territory.   This was not a war of choice. This was a war of necessity,” said Minister Al-Jubeir in the second part of Amanpour’s exclusive televised interview, which aired Friday. 

The Foreign Minister also responded to criticism over civilian casualties in Yemen, saying that the Saudi Arabian military ensures to minimize civilian casualties, and that many of the charges leveled against the Kingdom have been unfounded or completely fabricated.  “We have been very careful in how we use our military,” said Minister Al-Jubeir. “There have been mistakes, where there have been mistakes we investigate. We acknowledge wrongdoing. And we put in place procedures to ensure it doesn’t happen again.” 

On human rights within the Kingdom, Minister Al-Jubeir discussed the country’s legal system, saying that no one has the right to criticize the Kingdom’s legal system except the Saudi people.   “We’re a sovereign country. We have our legal system. We expect people to respect it, just as we respect their legal systems,” he said.