Iran Dismisses Reports on US Message about Yemen
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry dismissed speculation that the UN Secretary General’s special envoy for Yemen had a message from the US in his recent trip to Tehran.
Speaking to Tasnim on Monday, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said the speculation that Martin Griffiths has relayed a message from Washington to Tehran about Yemen is “a hundred percent baseless and rejected.”
“The visit by the UN Secretary General’s special envoy for Yemen had nothing to do with the new US administration’s recent stances, and he (Griffiths) did not carry any message from Washington to Tehran,” the spokesman added.
Khatibzadeh noted that the UN envoy makes regular visits to Tehran for talks with Iranian officials about the Yemen crisis.
Asked about the media reports claiming that Washington has agreed to stop supporting Saudi Arabia in return for a halt to Iranian supports for Yemenis, he said, “There is basically no message from Washington to bear such content.”
Griffiths held meetings with senior Iranian diplomats, including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, on Sunday and Monday for talks on the settlement of the crisis in Yemen.
In a speech during his first visit to the State Department last week, US President Joe Biden said Washington was ending its support for the Saudi-led war on Yemen, but added that it will continue to help Riyadh defend its sovereignty and territory.
Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies have been carrying out deadly airstrikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to fugitive former president Abd Rabbouh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
The war has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, and resulted in what the UN has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Some 3.3 million people have been displaced from their homes and 24 million, or more than 80 percent of the population, are in need of aid, according to the UN.