Local Editor

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian and United Nations [UN] Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmed conferred on Sunday on the latest developments in Yemen and the ongoing efforts to resolve the crisis in the impoverished country.

During the phone conversation on Sunday, Amir-Abdollahian said that the current crisis in Yemen should be resolved through political means. 

He pointed to the ongoing efforts to pave the way for dialogue among Yemenis, and said that to resolve the issue, all political groups should play an active role to this end. 

Ould Sheikh, for his part, urged all foreign and domestic groups to join the UN’s initiative in resolving the disputes through dialogue.

A Saudi-led coalition backed by the United States has been carrying out a military aggression on Yemen by launching airstrikes against the country since March 26.

The airstrikes have not been authorized by the UN.

The aggression began in a bid to restore power to the country’s fugitive former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Saudi Arabia, as well as to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement.

Over 2,615 civilians have been killed in the conflict in the last six months, according to the UN. Yet, other organizations put the death toll at much higher.

According to the Yemeni health ministry, the death toll from the Saudi-led aggression against Yemen so far is more than 6,000, adding that 1,277 of those killed were children.