US Central Command chief Gen. Kenneth McKinsey said Saudi Arabia is genuinely seeking a negotiated solution to end the conflict in Yemen, at a time when United Nations-sponsored peace negotiations between the Houthis and the legitimate government have stalled to stop the war in Yemen.
General McKinsey added in a series of tweets that his assessment, based on consultations with Saudi military officials, indicates that the Saudi authorities are seeking a negotiated solution to end the conflict in Yemen, and that Riyadh wants to enter into negotiations in good faith to end the crisis in Yemen.
On the other hand, the US official, who has led the Central Military Command since March 2019, considered, "Unfortunately, there is a third party in these negotiations, Iran, and it has no interest in ending the Yemen war."
“It's my judgment based on dialogue, mil-to-mil dialogue within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and meetings I've had there, that Saudi Arabia genuinely seeks a negotiated end to the conflict in Yemen.
- Gen. Frank McKenzie #CENTCOMCDR
- US Central Command (@CENTCOM) June 25, 2020
Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has been leading a military alliance that includes Arab and Islamic countries to confront the expansion of the Houthis who took control of power in Sana'a in September 2014, but the Saudi military intervention did not return legitimacy to the government of Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.
The Saudi-led coalition intervention has exacerbated the political and humanitarian crisis in Yemen to become the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, and the forces of the Southern Transitional Council supported by the UAE, the second largest partner in the coalition, were expelled months before the legitimate government forces from the temporary capital of Aden.