EU seeking Iran role to end Yemen war

The European Union (EU) condemns Yemen’s retaliatory attack on Abu Dhabi on Monday, Enrique Mora, High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union said in an interview with Sky News.

“The actions of the Houthis threaten security in the region,” he claimed, without referring to the crimes of the Saudi-UAE coalition on Yemeni civilians.

“We are trying to reach an agreement to end the war in Yemen,” he added.

Mora also stressed that Iran must play a positive role in ending the Yemeni crisis.

In April 2015, Iran proposed a four-point peace plan for Yemen. The plan called for an immediate ceasefire and end of all foreign military attacks, humanitarian assistance, a resumption of broad national dialogue and “establishment of an inclusive national unity government”.

On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh announced Tehran’s readiness to participate in any initiative that would end the 7-year war in Yemen.

Khatibzadeh said Iran has always supported a political solution based on ending the blockade on the Yemeni people, ending the war and preserving the country’s territorial integrity.

He added that Tehran also underlines the need to prevent an escalation of the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen.

His comments came a day after Yemeni forces launched a deadly drone attack on targets in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi that took the Emiratis unawares. Yemen says the attack was in response to the UAE’s relentless assistance in the Saudi-led war on the Yemeni people.

Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a war against the Arab world’s most impoverished nation in March 2015. The war has been seeking to restore power in Yemen to Riyadh’s favorite officials.

The death toll of the war, now in its seventh year, will reach an estimated 377,000 by the end of 2021, according to a recent report from the UN’s Development Programme.

The fighting has seen some 80 percent of the population, or 24 million people, relying on aid and assistance, including 14.3 million who are in acute need.