TEHRAN - Ali Asghar Khaji, a senior advisor to the Iranian foreign minister for special political affairs, and Peter Semneby, Sweden’s special envoy for Yemen, on Tuesday discussed latest developments in the Arab country via a video conference.

During the video discussion, the two sides exchanged views over potential areas of cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Sweden for the purpose of helping resolve the Yemeni crisis and end the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in the country.

The conversation came against a backdrop of heightened tensions between Yemen and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Sanaa-based government has launched two drone and missile attacks on the UAE in recent days.

Iran has expressed concern over the situation in Yemen. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said what is going on between Yemen and some neighbors is a Yemeni issue adding that the Islamic Republic of Iran has already tabled its four-point political plan on the subject and supports it. 

He made the remarks at The National Conference on Iran and Neighbors which was held on Monday, 24 January, with the participation of the Institute for Political and International Studies of the Foreign Ministry and the Institute for the Islamic World’s Future Studies.

At the conference, Major General Yahya Rahim-Safavi, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, Minister of Economy Ehsan Khandouzi and the scientific secretary of the conference Seyed Jalal Dehghani Firoozabadi, offered their thoughts.

In the follow-up to their speeches, seven scholarly panels were held on neighborhood policy, environmental cooperation, political economy, geostrategic rivalries, scientific and cultural exchanges and regional and international corridors.

At the conclusion, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian talked about the neighborhood policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iran’s achievements and actions in this regard. He said under the new neighborhood policy, consultations with all neighbors, including on the Vienna talks, is among our priorities.

Amir Abdollahian considered the issue of Yemen as a challenge to the neighborhood policy being pursued by the Raisi administration. 

He also said the escalation of the war is a source of concern and called on the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to adopt a constructive approach and move to accept an end to the war, ceasefire and intra-Yemeni talks.

The foreign minister also backed continuation of talks with Saudi Arabia stressing that whenever this country decides to normalize ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran, we will support reopening of the embassies.

Amir Abdollahian urged Saudi Arabia and the UAE to put an end to the war in Yemen.

“These days, something is happening in Yemen. What is between Yemen and some of its neighbors and countries participating in military operations is an internal Yemeni issue. Iran has presented a four-point political plan at all stages since the beginning of the Yemeni crisis and has followed its plan,” Amir Abdollahian said, pointing to Iran’s initiative to end the war in Yemen.

“We are concerned about the escalation of the war and call on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to take a political and constructive approach to end the siege and end the war and enter into the Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue,” he reiterated, warning that “continuation of such a situation is not in the interest of the region.”