Iran Says Pleased U.S. Talking About Peace in Yemen
TEHRAN -- Iran on Wednesday welcomed a fresh call by the United States to help end the Yemen conflict, saying it is “pleased” with Washington’s talk of the peace process in the war-torn country.
U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Timothy Lenderking on Tuesday urged Tehran to back a political solution to the ongoing crisis in Yemen, as the Saudi-led war enters its ninth year.
“We are pleased that the U.S. government envoy is talking about the peace process in Yemen, a procedure that the Islamic Republic of Iran has emphasized and made efforts toward since the beginning of the war on Yemen,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani responded in a tweet.
Saudi Arabia and its allies launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 with armed and logistical support from the US and other Western powers, leaving hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead.
The war has also displaced millions of people, destroyed the country’s infrastructure, and spawned the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe.
A UN-brokered ceasefire between the Ansarullah resistance movement and the self-proclaimed Yemeni regime, which is supported by Saudi Arabia, took effect on April 2, 2022, but it expired six months later.
In a statement issued on the ceasefire’s anniversary, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg called the ceasefire a “moment of hope” and said it was largely holding.
Speaking at the Middle East Institute in Washington, Lenderking said the U.S. “would like to see the Iranians show support for the political process that we hope is coming.”
He further noted favorably that Iran welcomed the Yemen truce a year ago.