Visiting the city of Jeddah, Secretary of State John Kerry announced a deal with Saudi Arabia on a new “peace initiative” related to the ongoing Saudi invasion of Yemen.
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Undoubtedly, Mr. Kerry knows better than others that the Saudi government in the past year and half has consistently and seriously blocked all efforts made to establish a ceasefire in Yemen.
Yemeni forces have fired ballistic missiles at the facilities belonging to the Saudi state oil giant Aramco in the kingdom’s southwest, according to traders citing reports by Iran Press TV and Yemen TV.
While visiting Saudi Arabia on Thursday, Kerry said he was “deeply troubled” over Saudi photographs purportedly showing the missiles being positioned along the Saudi-Yemeni border.
The strikes came a day after the United Nations demanded an global investigation in the killings of civilians in Yemen.
Meanwhile, supporters of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, Yemen’s president who has resigned and fled the capital, said in a statement they were prepared to consider the ideas outlined by Kerry.
On Saturday, a statement from the exiled government carried by the Saba news agency said: “The government is prepared to deal positively with any peaceful solutions…including an initial welcoming of the ideas resulting from the meeting in Jeddah that included the foreign secretaries of the USA, the United Kingdom and Gulf states”.
Saudi Arabia accuses the Houthis of being an Iranian proxy, which the rebels deny.
Three Saudi children were killed by missiles launched from Yemen on Sunday and Monday, local media reported. Instead, the Saudi war continues to take a heavy toll on civilians in Yemen, an issue that has even raised concern among some of Saudi Arabia’s own allies. Saudi warplanes destroyed a pair of houses in the city of Saada, on the Yemeni side of the border, on Friday, killing 11 civilians within.
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Kerry said following talks in Jeddah on Thursday he agreed with Gulf states and the United Nations on a plan to resume peace talks in Yemen with a view to forming a unity government.
