Iran FM to UN chief: nearing agreement in Vienna talks
In a phone conversation between UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Iranian FM Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the latter said they are nearing an agreement in the Vienna talks and "the ball is now in the US court."
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Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, "We are near an agreement in Vienna, and we have passed on our proposals on the remaining issues to the American side through the EU senior negotiator, and now the ball is in US court."
This came in a phone conversation between the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Iranian FM Hossein Amir-Abdollahian during which they discussed several issues including the armistice in Yemen and the developments in Afghanistan and Ukraine.
Guterres stressed the importance of the Vienna talks and expressed hope that an agreement would be reached as soon as possible.
In the same context, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said a few days ago that there is a ready document on the Iranian nuclear deal that is being discussed, and "we reached a text that suits everyone."
In another context, and with regards to the armistice in Yemen, UN Secretary-General Guterres embraced the truce in Yemen, expressing hope for a political process to bring peace into the country.
"You must take that momentum in order to make sure that this truce is fully respected and that it is renewed and... that a true political process is launched," Guterres told reporters.
"This demonstrates that even when things look impossible when there is the will to compromise, peace becomes possible."
In his turn, Amir-Abdollahian asserted his country's support in resolving the crisis in Yemen and ending the war in it, pointing out the importance of sending humanitarian aid to the Yemenis.
On Saturday, Yemen Supreme Political Council leader Mahdi Al-Mashat announced that Sanaa is unilaterally suspending all airstrikes and UAV and military operations against Saudi Arabia for three days.
The UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, announced that "under this truce, all offensive military operations, by land, air, and sea, will cease."
He stressed that the success of this initiative depends on the warring parties' continued commitment to implementing the armistice agreement, including the accompanying humanitarian measures.
However, Yemen's SABA news agency reported on Sunday that the Saudi-led coalition has violated the truce in Yemen.
The source confirmed that the Saudi coalition targeted locations of the Yemeni Army and Popular Committees in Al-Jawf Governorate with three Katyusha rockets. An aggression reconnaissance plane also launched a strike on an armed forces location in Taiz Governorate.
It added that the Saudi-led coalition forces also shelled army locations at border areas in Najran, while aggression reconnaissance aircraft patrolled the skies in Saada Governorate.
