TEHRAN – Iran has reiterated its position that there is no other choice other than “ceasefire” and “dialogue” to resolve the crisis in Yemen.

“Since the beginning of the foreign military attacks on Yemen, Iran has announced that Saudi Arabia’s military action is a strategic mistake that bears no result but killing of the Yemeni people and spreading of terrorism and insecurity in the sensitive Persian Gulf region,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in a phone conversation on Sunday with Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the UN special envoy for Yemen.

Amir-Abdollahian, the deputy foreign minister for Arab and North African affairs, said Iran supports the UN’s efforts to secure ceasefire in Yemen, end blockade against the country and hold the Yemeni-Yemeni talks.

Amir-Abdollahian went on to say that the Yemeni groups and parties can agree a long lasting peace under the supervision of the UN.

The UN official stated that supports by can help end the war in Yemen and alleviate the Yemeni people’s pains and sufferings.

According to the UN, some 21 million people in Yemen are in need of help.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed visited Yemen’s capital on Sunday in a bid to arrange a pause in fighting until the end of the holy month of Ramadan on July 17, in order to allow for deliveries of humanitarian aid.

The visit by the envoy came amid continuing violence, including a Saudi-led deadly attack on a market in northern Yemen.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed visited Sanaa for talks with the Houthis and their allies. Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam said in a post on his Facebook page that he had met the UN envoy on Friday in Muscat, Oman's capital, in a meeting attended by the ambassadors of the European Union and Germany.

Political sources in Muscat said Arab forces had demanded guarantees that the Houthis and allied army units would not use any pause during Ramadan to keep advancing on areas held by forces allied or loyal to exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in south and eastern Yemen.


NA/PA