Iran FM underlines necessity of lifting sanctions on Yemen

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Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Wednesday when he received the head of the Sanaa negotiating delegation Mohammed Abdul-Salam, in the Omani capital, Muscat, that Iran would continue supporting the Yemeni people to obtain their demands.

Amir-Abdullahian praised the Yemeni people for their steadfastness, further lauding their determination to "reach their goals," and affirming the Islamic Republic's "continued support for Yemen."

The Iranian foreign minister stressed the need to "reach peaceful solutions to the Yemeni crisis," highlighting how it was "necessary to put an end to the blockade imposed on Yemen and deal with the issue in a humanitarian manner."

The meeting took place between the Iranian and Yemeni officials at the Iranian embassy in Muscat.

The Yemeni-Iranian meeting in Oman comes after meetings that were described as "fruitful", which the Omani mediation delegation held in Sanaa last week. The talks saw the Omanis meeting highly prominent political figures, especially Ansar Allah leader Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi and Supreme Political Council President Mahdi Al-Mashat.

The President of the Supreme Political Council praised, "the efforts of the brothers in the Sultanate of Oman, and their positive role in achieving the honorable peace, which all the Yemeni people aspire to."

After the meetings, Abdulsalam highlighted how Sanaa was not currently "facing any commitment regarding the cease-fire, but there are respectable efforts made by the brothers in Oman in parallel with discussing ideas aimed at making progress." 

The Iranian Foreign Minister arrived in Oman on Tuesday as part of an official visit, which saw him meeting Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tarik and handing him a letter from Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

Deputy Prime Minister for Security and Defense Affairs, Lieutenant General Jalal Al-Ruwaishan, pointed out that Sanaa's positions are clear and indicative of engaging in any political dialogues that lead to achieving a just, comprehensive, and honorable peace for all the Yemeni people.

According to Al-Ruwaishan, Sanaa's demands are mainly based on the legitimate demands of the Yemeni people, namely: paying the salaries of employees from Yemeni oil and gas revenues, as well as opening Sanaa airport, lifting the siege on Al-Hudaydah ports, and ending any foreign presence on Yemeni territory.

He also praised the mediation efforts of the Omani delegation that arrived in Sanaa as well as their sincere and commendable endeavor in the path of communicating with the coalition of aggression in order to reach an honorable and just peace in Yemen and the region as a whole.

This comes more than two and a half months after the expiration of the six-month UN truce in Yemen that started in early April and ended in October without renewal after the coalition failed to abide by its commitments and continued its siege and war acts against Yemen.

During statements he made earlier in the week, Al-Rowaishan underlined that "there cannot be a political solution while the country is under aggression, siege, and occupation," adding that, "the negotiation to lift the siege and end the aggression and occupation is between Sanaa and the countries of aggression, and the political solution is then between the Yemenis."

He also stressed that "the humanitarian issue must be separated from the political and military, and this vision is logical and confirmed by international laws and laws of God," highlighting that "the 30 million Yemenis who are suffering can't wait for the politicians and the military to reach solutions during negotiations."