UN, Iranian Officials Discuss Initiatives to Resolve Crises in Yemen, Syria
Local Editor
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, and United Nations [UN] Undersecretary General Jan Eliasson exchanged views on the latest efforts to resolve the ongoing crises in Yemen and Syria.
At the meeting held in Iran’s capital of Tehran on Monday, Amir Abdollahian discussed the Syrian conflict and regarding Yemen, he said that Iran is currently engaged in negotiations with the UN envoy for Yemen affairs.
"We support negotiations among Yemeni sides", he noted.
Eliasson, too, stressed the need for pursuing diplomatic initiatives to resolve the regional crises.
He also appreciated Iran’s constructive approach in interacting effectively with the UN representatives on Syria and Yemen.
The top UN official also asked for increased efforts for pursuing a political solution among all Yemeni sides and the start of talks in the impoverished country.
On March 26, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies backed by the United States began to launch a military aggression against Yemen by launching air strikes against the country in an attempt to restore power to the fugitive former Yemeni President, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Saudi Arabia.
The airstrikes have not been authorized by the UN.
The ’civilian’ death toll in Yemen has risen to more than 2,300 with more than 4,000 other civilians wounded in the fighting in the country that has raged for more than a year now, according to the UN recently last month [September]. Yet, other organizations put the death toll at much higher.
