Tehran Against Interference in Intra-Yemeni Talks
EghtesadOnline: The Foreign Ministry spokesman implicitly dismissed a report that Iran had requested to attend the ongoing Yemen peace talks in Sweden, stressing that “the nature of the negotiations is intra-Yemeni”.
Bahram Qasemi also told ISNA that Iran has always underlined the need for “Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue” without foreign interference.
“Iran has always announced its full support for the United Nations’ initiative to find an appropriate political solution as the only way out of the [Yemen] crisis,” he said.
The UN has arranged a meeting in Sweden between the opposing Yemeni groups, which has reportedly made good progress, according to Financial Tribune.
The purpose is to bring to a halt a nearly four-year civil war between the ousted government of Abd-Rabbu Mansur Hadi and the Houthi movement, which has left thousands of people dead and created the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian crisis.
Al-Monitor, a Washington-based website covering Middle East news, recently published a story claiming that Iran had sought to send a high-level official to the talks but was rebuffed by the United States.
“The Iranian Foreign Ministry recently informed Sweden … of its desire to send a senior adviser to Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif to the shuttle diplomacy … But the request was denied, according to several Iranian sources, because of US pressure,” the article read.
The US State Department had not confirmed its role in shutting out Tehran. The Swedish Embassy in Washington and the UN envoy Martin Griffiths have refused to comment.
Qasemi said Iran is hopeful that by adopting an independent and peaceful approach within the framework of national talks, the Yemeni sides will prevent foreign intervention and disruption so as to end the pain and suffering of the impoverished nation.