Iran calls for immediate Yemen peace talks

Iran has called for immediate peace talks between Yemen’s warring parties, official media said Friday, as rebels backed by Tehran battle loyalist forces supported by Saudi-led air strikes.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made the appeal during a telephone call with UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Thursday, the IRNA news agency said.

Iran has proposed a peace plan for Yemen that calls for a ceasefire followed by foreign-mediated talks by all sides.

“Mr Zarif referred to the Iranian four-point plan to end the crisis in Yemen, stressing the importance of an immediate dialogue between the Yemenis and said Iran was ready to help resolve this crisis,” IRNA said.

“Ban Ki-moon acknowledged the efforts of the Islamic Republic to peacefully resolve the crisis in Yemen and focused on the immediate provision of medicines and food to those affected,” it said.

Ban called Thursday for an immediate ceasefire in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is bombing Huthi Shiite rebels fighting forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who has fled to Saudi Arabia.

The UN chief is searching for a new envoy to seek a political solution following the resignation of Jamal Benomar, a Moroccan-born diplomat who lost the confidence of Saudi Arabia and its allies.

Riyadh and Washington accuse Tehran of supplying arms to the rebels, which Iran strongly denies.

The Huthis have “no need” to be trained and armed by Iran, said Hossein Salami, deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards, the elite army of the Iranian regime.

“They say we have trained Ansarullah (Huthi rebels) and we provided them with weapons and military support, but this is not true,” he told Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen television, in an interview published Friday by Iran’s Tasnim agency.

These charges are intended to present Iran “as a source of insecurity in the region,” he said.

The issue of securing the strategic Strait of Bab al-Mandeb, between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, is “a political excuse” because the Huthis and their allies “will never be a threat to the trade and shipping in the strait”, he added.