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News ID: 14331
Publish Date : 26 May 2015 - 21:58
FM Zarif Visits Oman, Kuwait:

Diplomatic Blitz to End Saudi Aggression

MUSCAT (Dispatches) -- Iran's foreign minister held talks in neutral Oman Tuesday about ending the conflict in Yemen where Saudi Arabia is waging a bombing campaign against the country.

Oman, which maintains good relations with Iran, is the only one of the six Persian Gulf Arab states that has not joined the air war in its western neighbor.
"We discussed ways to send humanitarian aid, establish a ceasefire and start dialogues between the Yemeni groups," Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif said.
"We are concerned about the continuing air raids against the population in Yemen and irreversible damage to this country," he added.
"Iran and Oman want peace, security and stability in the region and have the same position on these issues."
Zarif said new solutions must be sought in order to bring about a permanent ceasefire in Yemen and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the country.
In a meeting with Omani Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Zarif stressed the need for national inter-Yemeni dialogue and criticized the "unilateral” mechanisms adopted by certain parties to resolve the crisis in Yemen.
"In working out solutions, one cannot ignore a considerable section of the Yemeni population,” the top Iranian diplomat said.
Zarif expressed deep concern over the Saudi military aggression against Yemen, saying the assaults have done "irreparable damage” to the impoverished Arab country.
Iran has called for an end to the bombing campaign that Saudi Arabia launched in support of fugitive former president Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi on March 26.
In Tehran, Iranian foreign ministry summoned the Saudi Arabian envoy to register its protest over an airstrike near Tehran’s embassy in Yemen, the ISNA news agency reported.
Iran warned the Saudi charge d’affaires against any violations of the diplomatic immunity of embassy staff and facilities, the report said.
Oman has served as an avenue for Iranian diplomacy in the past.
The Iranian foreign minister also praised Oman’s efforts in getting the viewpoints of all Yemeni parties involved in the conflict closer together and in facilitating negotiations among them.
The Omani official, for his part, referred to Iran’s active role in the Middle East, describing the role as positive and aimed at the resolution of regional disputes.
He further emphasized the need for sending humanitarian aid consignments to Yemen, saying that the issue is of concern to Omani officials.
During his visit, Zarif also signed an agreement demarcating the two country's maritime border in the strategic entrance to the Persian Gulf, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported.
From Oman, Zarif was to travel on to Kuwait for a ministerial meeting of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
A delegation of Yemen’s Ansarullah, led by head of Houthi political council Saleh al-Samad arrived in Oman on Saturday evening accompanied by Omani officials who flew into Sanaa to pick them up.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hussein Amir-Abdollahian made a reference to his meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov on Monday and said, "Tehran and Moscow will also continue their efforts in the future to resolve the Yemeni conflict politically.”