اضغط هنا لقراءة الخبر بالعربية
Hadramout governor, Faraj Al-Bahsani, on Thursday threatened to halt oil exports from Yemen's eastern oil-rich province if the internationally recognised government does not respond to demands of the people who have been protesting for days against an economic crisis triggered by the collapse of the national currency.
In a speech to the sons of Hadramout delivered on Mukalla radio station, Al-Bahsani said: "If the government does not address the situation immediately, the local authorities will be forced to halt oil exports from Hadramout until the government takes action to alleviate the suffering of the people".
Locals in Hadramout and southern cities of Aden, Lahj and Dhale have been protesting since Sunday against deteriorating living conditions that have worsened further after the Yemeni rial hit a record low against major currencies this week.
The rial is trading at around 600 to the US dollar, down from 485 in July and 215 before the breakout of the war in late 2014.
Protesters are blaming the government's corruption and incompetence for the crisis.
The Yemeni people have been suffering for more than three years because of armed conflict.
In his speech, Al-Bahsani accused Iran's instruments of turning peaceful protests into riots in order to target Yemen and an Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia backing it.
The coalition has been fighting the Iran-backed Houthis to restore Yemen's government since March 2015.
Protesters have criticised the coalition for failing the Yemeni people during the current crisis. They have been chanting anti-coalition slogans including "no coalition after today".
The local authorities on Wednesday announced their support to the protests of the people, but accused Iran-backed elements of infiltrating the protests and turning them into riots.
The Iran-backed elements even clashed with the police, they said in a statement.
The Yemeni government resumed oil production of Hadramout oilfields in 2016.
State-owned Petromasila oi company is operating Hadramout oil blocks that reports say are producing around 50.000 barrels a day.
