[News] Peace mission in Yemen after restoration of Iran-Saudi Arabia relations

[Draeno]

 

A Saudi delegation arrived in Sanaa to hold peace talks directly with Yemen's Shiite Houthis, in the first visit of this kind since Riyadh intervened in the Yemeni war in 2015, sources close to the rebel group reported on Sunday.

The delegation landed in the Yemeni capital on Saturday, shortly after a mission of Omani mediators also arrived in the city and after the Houthis announced the exchange of 13 Yemeni prisoners and one Saudi in an apparent sign of progress in the talks. .

The Saudis and the Omani mediators will remain in Sanaa for several days, where they will be received by the head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al Mashat, to address "the lifting of the blockade" imposed by Saudi Arabia on the areas controlled by the Houthis. the Yemeni news agency SABA said today.

He explained that the parties will also talk about "the end of the aggression" of the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and "the payment of the salaries of officials with oil and gas revenues" that are produced in areas controlled by the Government. internationally recognized Yemeni government, he added.

The Yemeni conflict sparked in 2014 when Iranian-backed Houthi rebels took up arms and seized Sanaa and other large areas in the north and west of the country.

A year later, an Arab military coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, intervened in the conflict to restore the internationally recognized government.

The rebels and the government have not yet reached an agreement to extend the truce that began in April 2022, and which expired after a six-month cessation of hostilities that has provided the longest period of relative calm in Yemen since it began. the war in that country.

Analysts and the Arab media have not ruled out significant progress in the negotiations to resolve the war in Yemen since Saudi Arabia and Iran, the main Sunni and Shiite powers in the Middle East, announced an agreement in March, mediated by China, to restore their diplomatic relations, broken since 2016.

In fact, this Sunday the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that two delegations from the country will visit Saudi Arabia before Friday with a view to reopening their diplomatic missions, after a similar move by the Saudi government.

The announcement came the day after a visit to Tehran by a Saudi delegation and after a historic meeting between the foreign ministers of both Gulf countries in China. Both countries pledged in Beijing on Thursday to work together to bring "security and stability" to their troubled region.

The announcement of their reconciliation on March 10 stunned the world and may transform relations in the Middle East. Riyadh and Tehran support rival sides in various conflicts in the region, such as in Yemen for example.

 

https://www.elespectador.com/mundo/mas-paises/mision-de-paz-en-yemen-tras-restablecimiento-de-relaciones-iran-arabia-saudita-noticias-hoy/