TEHRAN - Ali Asghar Khaji, senior advisor to the Iranian foreign minister, has held talks via a video conference with Hans Grundberg, the UN secretary general’s special envoy for Yemen.

The Iranian foreign ministry said the talks were part of consultations by the Islamic Republic of Iran in order to end the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen.

During the video conference, the senior advisor to the foreign minister expressed grave concern over an escalation of tensions and a surge in recent airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition against residential and civilian areas in Yemen. Khaji demanded that the UN and the international community intervene in Yemen to end the Saudi-led war against the country and the inhumane siege on the Yemeni people. He underlined that Iran will continue efforts to help establish a fair peace in Yemen.

The UN secretary general’s special envoy for Yemen also underscored the Islamic Republic’s role in helping establish peace in Yemen. Grundberg outlined the UN efforts to lift the Saudi-led blockade, establish a ceasefire and resume political talks in Yemen.

Earlier, Khaji sent a message to the UN envoy on the situation in Yemen. The Iranian diplomat, who often plays a pivotal role in implementing Iran’s regional foreign policy, condemned the massive bombardment by the Saudi-led coalition of Yemeni cities, civilian areas and infrastructure.

"Certainly, as the experience of the past seven years has shown, sanctions, military conflicts and the killing of people cannot lead to a solution to the Yemeni crisis and a way to liberation, and the solution to end the siege of the oppressed people of Yemen is the cessation of military operations and respect for independence of Yemen," Khaji said.

According to the senior advisor, as in the past Iran is ready to cooperate and work in this direction.

In April 2015, Iran presented a four-point plan to the UN in a bid to end the conflict in Yemen. The four-point called for cessation of hostilities and an immediate end to all foreign military attacks, directly deliver medical and humanitarian aid, broker political talks between warring sides and establish an inclusive unity government.

In his recent phone call with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian lamented an escalation of attacks on civilian areas in Yemen and reiterated Iran’s long-held approach in supporting a political solution to the Yemen war.

Referring to the UN’s approach on terminating the blockade as well as bringing about a ceasefire and holding political talks in Yemen, Amir Abdollahian called on the secretary-general to play a more active role in efforts to lift the siege on Yemen and put an end to the large-scale bombardment of civilian regions.

In a meeting with his Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Thursday, Amir Abdollahian again lamented the recent increase in military attacks against Yemen. He warned such moves will “destroy the path to peace.”

“In recent weeks, we have witnessed an increase in military moves regarding Yemen, and such moves will lead to outbreak of further wars in Yemen and the region, and destroy the path to peace,” Press TV quoted the Iranian foreign minister as saying.

On January 25, Khaji met with Peter Semneby, Sweden’s special envoy for Yemen. The two diplomats discussed latest developments in Yemen via a video conference.

During the video discussion, the two sides exchanged views over potential areas of cooperation between 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 three drone and missile attacks on the UAE in recent weeks.

In November last year, chief of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Vahid Jalalzadeh and Khaji met with Grundberg in Tehran.

Jalalzadeh said Iran is ready to help end the war in Yemen, encourage political talks, and decrease the pains and sorrows of the oppressed and defenseless Yemeni people in collaboration with Yemen and regional countries, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported. 

“Seven years have passed since the beginning of the crisis in Yemen, throughout which the world has on each day been witness to the massacring of the defenseless, innocent and civilian Yemeni women and children, which is a sample of crimes against mankind, amid the silence, and sometimes collaboration of some world powers,” Jalalzadeh lamented.

He said that Iran’s official stand, ever since the outbreak of the Yemen crisis, has been an insistence on the need for Yemeni-Yemeni negotiations, that is among the entire groups there, free from foreign interventions or military aggression.

The head of parliamentary committee said that the UN special envoy had better focus its entire efforts aimed at ending the inhumane siege of Yemen, brokering an immediate ceasefire and arrange for the beginning of political negotiations in Yemen, aimed at establishment of sustainable peace in Yemen.