Northern Yemen is a stronghold of the Iranian-allied Houthi group, which has seized large parts of Yemen including the capital from forces loyal to the embattled Saudi-backed president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
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Chinese vice foreign minister Zhang Ming is already in the kingdom and will travel later to Iran, ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters on Thursday.
Officials in Iran deny direct links to the rebels, but have strongly denounced the Saudi-directed airstrikes and other attacks in Yemen.
The claim comes as tensions mount between the two regional rivals – Sunni Muslim power Saudi Arabia and Shi’ite-led Iran – over Riyadh’s execution of a prominent Shi’ite cleric. It said the decision came during an emergency meeting of the cabinet of President Hassan Rouhani.
On Tuesday, Kuwait said it was recalling its ambassador from Tehran, describing the attack on the Saudi Embassy as a “flagrant breach of worldwide norms”.
Also on January 7, Tehran announced it had banned all products from Saudi Arabia.
Hundreds of protesters have gathered outside the Saudi Arabian embassy in Canberra angered by the execution of cleric Nimr Baqr al-Nimr, who was critical of the kingdom’s treatment of its Shiite minority.
Erdogan visited Saudi Arabia on December 29-31, holding talks on the Syrian crisis with Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the King of Saudi Arabia. Arab states Bahrain and Sudan have also cut ties with Iran, while the United Arab Emirates partially downgraded its relations with Iran. He was accused of “seeking foreign meddling” and taking up arms against Saudi Arabia.
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“The Saudis have no intention to escalate… but if the other side decides to escalate, the Saudis are ready to take up the challenge at any price”, said Mustafa Alani, security expert at the Gulf Research Center. Iran was also one of the countries that offered humanitarian assistance at the height of starvation that struck Somalia and the rest of the Horn of Africa region in 2011 following a drought, the most severe in 60 years.
