Diplomat Reiterates Iran's Support for National Dialogue in Yemen
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for African and Middle Eastern Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian reiterated Tehran's full support for the resolution of the Yemeni crisis through negotiations attended by all Yemeni groups.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran backs (efforts to) start Yemeni-Yemeni talks with the participation of all parties (to the conflict) in the country," Amir Abdollahian said Sunday in a telephone conversation with the United Nations secretary-general's new special envoy for war-stricken Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
Tehran believes that the Yemeni groups and parties can reach a lasting accord under the supervision of the UN, he noted, adding that the Islamic Republic supports the United Nations' efforts to that end.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian official slammed the Saudi regime's violation of the five-day truce it had earlier announced and said the aggression against the defenseless people of Yemen is still continuing.
He stressed the need to accelerate the delivery of humanitarian aid, particularly food and medicine, to the oppressed people of the Arab country.
Cheikh Ahmed, for his part, said the UN has made efforts to extend the truce, which expired on Sunday, in Yemen. He also called for Yemeni-Yemeni talks to end the war in the country.
On March 26, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies began to launch deadly air strikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to the fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
According to Yemen's Freedom House Foundation, the Saudi airstrikes have claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Yemeni people so far while more than 6,887 others have been wounded.
