Iran’s Zarif backs cease-fire in meeting with Yemen’s Houthis
Saudi Arabia and Iran held talks in Baghdad earlier this month to de-escalate tensions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has restated Tehran’s support for a cease-fire in Yemen and talks between the country’s Houthi rebels and the government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, which is backed by Saudi Arabia.
Zarif met with Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam in Muscat, Oman’s capital, Wednesday. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said its top diplomat “emphasized our country’s support for a cease-fire and Yemeni-Yemeni talks.”
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman renewed his government’s call for a cease-fire proposed last month. The Houthis have rejected the call, demanding a full lifting of the Saudi blockade on the port of Hodeida.
The Houthis have continued to launch ballistic missiles and drones into Saudi territory amid a US and United Nations diplomatic push to end Yemen’s 6-year-old civil war. The conflict has engendered the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and left some 80% of Yemen’s population in need of humanitarian assistance, the UN has said.
