Iran, Qatar Express Support for Yemen Peace Talks

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani have expressed the support of Tehran and Doha for the recent progress made in the peace talks between Yemeni warring sides.

Foreign minister of Yemen's former government, Khaled al-Yamani (L), and Houthi negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam shake hands under the eyes of United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres during peace consultations at Johannesberg Castle in Rimbo, north of Stockholm, Sweden, on December 13, 2018. / Photo by AFP

The two officials met in the Qatari capital of Doha on Saturday on the sidelines of the

After several days of UN-brokered talks in Sweden, the Houthi delegation and Saudi-backed former government agreed that the UN would play a “leading role” in Hudaydah, which is currently controlled by the Houthis.

They also agreed to reopen the airport in the capital Sana’a, which was shuttered last year after numerous attacks by Saudi Arabia.

The Riyadh-backed side, which represented former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi in the Stockholm talks, were forced to sit for talks with the Houthi Ansarullah movement after their massive operation to seize the port city of Hudaydah failed.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had deployed about 10,000 troops to Yemen’s west coast after repeated campaigns to seize Hudaydah were thwarted by the Houthis and their allies.

Ansarullah calls the truce deal a defeat for the Saudis as it stops the aggression, allows existing local protectors who thwarted the Saudi offensive to be in charge of the city, and allows the Yemeni nation to regain their access to food, medicine, and other basic supplies.

Around 14 million people have been pushed to the brink of starvation since the Saudi war began in 2015, according to the UN.

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