The United States said it will continue to pressure the Houthi leadership in Yemen after Washington's decision to backtrack on the group's classification as a terrorist organization, while the United Nations envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths discussed with Iranian officials in Tehran ways to solve the Yemeni crisis.
On Monday, the US State Department spokesman said that his country "will certainly continue to pressure the Houthi leadership in Yemen," after Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told Congress that he intends to reverse the designation of the Houthis as a terrorist organization, a decision taken by the administration of former President Donald Trump during its last days of the month the past.
Minister Blinken told CNN that his country wanted to "play a vital role in the diplomatic field to end the war in Yemen," which has been continuing since 2015, and the American official stressed that his country is about to end its military support to Saudi Arabia in the Yemen war, but it is committed The security of the kingdom.
Blinken: America wants to play a vital role in the diplomatic field to end the war in Yemen (Reuters)
Talks in Tehran
In a related context, Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif said that Tehran is ready to support any effective role of the United Nations to solve the crisis in Yemen, in his statements during his meeting with the UN envoy to Yemen in Tehran, and Zarif added that a political solution is the only solution to the Yemeni crisis, and that This solution passes through a ceasefire and the start of a political dialogue.
For his part, the UN envoy Martin Griffiths said that he discussed with Iranian officials the Yemeni crisis and ways to solve it. United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric explained that Zarif and Griffiths "exchanged views on Yemen, and how to make progress towards resuming the political process."
"Mr. Zarif and Mr. Griffiths discussed the urgent need to make progress towards a nationwide ceasefire, the opening of Sana'a airport and the easing of restrictions on the ports of Hodeidah," Dujarric added.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry denied that Griffiths carried an American message that included an offer to stop Washington's support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen, in exchange for stopping Tehran's support for the Houthis.
Griffiths’s visit to Iran is the first of its kind for the UN envoy since he assumed this responsibility 3 years ago.
Saudi Arabia led a military alliance in 2015 to support the legitimate government forces in Yemen after the Houthis took control of the levers of power in Yemen, but the situation in Yemen has evolved to leave behind the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, according to the United Nations.
The United States calls on the Houthis to immediately stop the attacks that affect civilian areas inside Saudi Arabia and to stop any new military attacks inside Yemen that "only lead to more suffering for the Yemeni people" - US State Department statement
- ZaidBenjamin (@ ZaidBenjamin5) February 8, 2021
Houthi attack
In a related context, a Yemeni government official said yesterday, Monday, that the Houthi group understood the error of the US administration's calls for the necessity to end the war in the country, commenting on the attack launched by the Houthis today on the city of Marib, the last stronghold of the legitimate government in northern Yemen, which caused dozens of victims.
Government spokesman Rajeh Badi said, in an interview with Al-Jazeera, that the Houthi group understood the US administration’s declaration of the need to end the war in the country by mistake, and launched an attack on the city of Marib.
Earlier Monday, officials loyal to the legitimate government announced that the Houthis had renewed their attack on the outskirts of the city of Marib, which is home to one million and 800 thousand displaced Yemenis.
Heavy clashes erupted between the legitimate government forces and the Houthis after a hiatus of weeks, according to government sources, resulting in dozens of deaths on both sides.