TEHRAN — Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has elaborated on replacing the Iranian ambassador to Sana'a, saying the previous envoy had become sick.

"Relations between Iran and Yemen are good and strategic. The Iranian embassy was located in Sana'a, although it was not possible to travel for a while, but we had an ambassador in Sana'a," Zarif said on Tuesday, according to IRNA.

He said that nothing concerning has happened.

Zarif made the remarks after the former ambassador returned home due to illness and Hassan Irlou went to Sana'a as Iran's new ambassador.

Irlou held a meeting with President of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council Mahdi al-Mashat on Wednesday morning, when he submitted his credentials to the top Yemeni official.

Irlou stressed his preparedness to cooperate with the Yemeni government to establish peace and uproot terrorism last week.

“We will cooperate with the Yemeni government to establish security and peace and uproot terrorism,” Irlou wrote on his Twitter page on Sunday.

The Iranian envoy in a meeting with Foreign Minister of the Yemeni National Salvation Government Hisham Sharaf in Sanaa last week had submitted a copy of his credentials.

Iran has said the appointment of Irlou will open a new chapter in Iran-Yemen relations.

“Yemen is not a playground for aggressors. We consider the future of Yemen to all Yemenis. The beginning of the mission of Mr. Hassan Irlou, a diplomat of good manners, expert and professional, as our country’s new ambassador in Sanaa, will be a new chapter in the constructive relations between Iran and Yemen,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the special aide to the speaker of the Iranian Parliament on international affairs, said in a tweet, shortly after the appointment of Irlou.

Irlou has said Iran will work with the Yemeni government to achieve peace in Yemen.

“We will cooperate with the Yemeni government to establish security and peace and uproot terrorism,” tweeted the new ambassador while strongly condemning the assassination of Hassan Zaid, Yemen’s minister of sports and the youth.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has outlined the main contours of Irlou’s mission in Yemen.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Irlou’s agenda in Yemen includes strengthening national reconciliation, ending the war in Yemen through cooperation among Yemeni and international players, lifting the blockade on Yemen, and encouraging Yemeni tribes and political groups to resolve their internal problems through Yemeni-Yemeni talks.

MH/PA