Yemeni General Welcomes Iran-Saudi Détente
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A Yemeni official hailed the rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, reiterating the need for an end to the military attacks and blockade on his country.
Speaking to Tasnim, Deputy Director of Moral Guidance Department of Yemen Brigadier General Abdullah bin Amer said his country welcomes reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
“We regard every step that the Muslim countries would take for closeness with each other as positive and compelling,” he noted, adding that Yemen continues to stress the need for an end to the military aggression and blockage on Yemeni people as a requisite for the termination of retaliatory military operations.
As soon as the foreign aggression against Yemen ends and the blockade is lifted, the retaliatory military operations will be terminated, the general stated.
Yemen has now concentrated its efforts on the reduction of tensions, he underline, warning that the failure to end the military aggression or lift the blockade on Yemen will render all regional measures for the settlement of the crisis futile.
Last week, the United Nations special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, announced that diplomatic efforts to end the Yemeni conflict have intensified since Iran and Saudi Arabia restored diplomatic relations earlier this month.
“Intense diplomatic efforts are ongoing at different levels to bring the conflict in Yemen to an end,” Grundberg said after visiting Tehran and Riyadh.
On March 10, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced that they had reached a deal to re-establish diplomatic relations, which Riyadh had severed in 2016, and to work together to improve “regional and international peace and security.” The agreement, which China mediated, has been interpreted as a blow to US influence in the Persian Gulf.
Iranian media reported afterwards that the deal would revive a ceasefire, “help start a national dialogue, and form an inclusive national government in Yemen.”
Saudi Arabia and its allies have been bombing Yemen since March 2015, and the conflict has resulted in an estimated 377,000 deaths, with 150,000 deaths due to violence and the rest from starvation and disease. Approximately four million people have been displaced.
