The Saudi military and the rebels known as Houthis frequently clash along the kingdom’s southern border with Yemen.
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Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of staff of the armed forces, suggested Iran could support the Houthis in a similar way it has backed President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in Syria, in an interview with the Tasnim news agency.
Between Feb. 4 and Feb. 26, al-Masirah reported daily military operations against Saudi frontier positions and towns by the Houthis and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, including sniper attacks, mortar bombardments, ambushes and infiltrations.
The Houthis have been accused of receiving weapons from Iran.
The United Nations says almost 6,000 people have been killed in Yemen’s fighting. It said that it had inspected the weapons in question and they resembled those seen in the media in Houthi possession in August.
He added “If Iran changed its method and changed its policy there is nothing to prevent opening a new page to be based on the principle of good neighborliness and non-interference in the affairs of others and inciting sectarian strife in the Islamic world stressing that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has not carried out any act of aggression toward Iran”.
The Yemeni capital of Sanaa and the northern region of the country where Houthis are in control have reported relative calm in recent days.
A Saudi activist in Riyadh who asked to remain anonymous told MEE that a prisoner exchange had taken place between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia before the talks began. The Houthi delegation in Saudi Arabia is headed by Mohammed Abdel-Salam, the Houthis’ main spokesman and a senior adviser to Houthi leader, Abdel-Malek al-Houthi.
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Saudi Brig. Gen. Ahmed al-Asiri said on television on Wednesday that there were no direct talks with the Houthis but that there were talks with tribal figures who are serving as mediators. The last coalition airstrike on Sanaa was also about a week ago, according to the city’s residents.
