Iran’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that his country would use all its influence to broker a peace deal for Yemen in order to end Saudi-led air strikes against the Yemeni people.
Iran's foreign minister said on Wednesday that his country would use all its influence to broker a peace deal for Yemen in order to end Saudi-led air strikes against the Yemeni people.
"We are a major force in the region and we have relations with all groups in various countries, and we are going to use that in order to bring everybody to the negotiating table, to the point that we can," Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters in Lisbon.
He added that Iran had already consulted with Turkey and Pakistan, two allies of Saudi Arabia, and Oman. None has joined the Saudi-led air campaign against Yemen.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf powers accuse Iran of arming the Houthis, and interfering in Yemen's affairs. Tehran denies giving the Houthis military support.
Zarif said efforts to bring peace to Yemen must "start with the right premise, that we need to end this bombardment and all the bloodshed, and prevent al Qaeda from taking advantage of this situation".
On Tuesday he had outlined a four-point peace plan comprising a ceasefire, humanitarian assistance, an intra-Yemeni dialogue and the establishment of a broad-based government.
Zarif urged an end to the aerial bombardment against the people of Yemen, saying there were "hardly any military targets in Yemen".
A coalition of 10 countries, led by the Saudi Arabia and supported financially and militarily by the United States, launched three weeks ago a wide military offensive on Yemen, killing 20 civilians in one attack, wounding hundreds and causing so much destruction across the state.
Media outlets reported that Saudi Arabia has deployed "100 fighter jets, 150,000 soldiers and other navy units" for the military campaign against Yemen. It also sent 5000 takfiri terrorists to fight against the Yemeni army.
The national military - supported by the Popular Committees - has launched a wide-scale campaign in the attack-hit areas, and managed to drive al-Qaeda and ISIL terrorists out of main neighborhoods of Aden and Sanaa.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is known for training and funding takfiri groups and sending them to the conflict-hit zones in the Arab and Muslim world, including Syria, Afghanistan and now in Yemen.