Zarif Lays Out Yemen Peace Plan, Calls for Aid, Dialogue

Local Editor

Iran's foreign minister laid out a four-point Yemen peace plan including dialogue and humanitarian aid, and renewed his call for an end to Saudi-led airstrikes against the Yemeni Houthis.

The proposal was likely to anger Saudi Arabia and other powers which accused Iran of arming the Houthis and interfering in Yemeni affairs which Tehran denied.

President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi fled to Riyadh last month as the Houthis advanced towards the southern Yemeni port city of Aden, triggering a campaign of air strikes by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia and supported by the US to try to drive them back.

Accordingly,  proposed a cease-fire, humanitarian assistance, an intra-Yemeni dialogue, and a broad-based government to end the conflict.

"This issue should be resolved by the Yemenis... Iran and Saudi Arabia need to talk but we cannot talk to determine the future of Yemen," he said at a conference in Madrid.

Zarif also said the airstrikes "are simply not the answer... All operations should end on land and from the air."

A day earlier, Zarif called for a new government in Yemen and offered to assist in a political transition.

He also suggested that the process to rebuild Afghanistan after the 2001 US invasion could serve as a model.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team