He said a “road map” was also envisaged for the United Nations envoy for Yemen when resuming talks with the Yemeni warring sides.
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“Certainly Mr. Kerry knows, better than everyone, that the Saudis have tried hard to annul all efforts made for establishing ceasefire in Yemen”, underlined Zarif.
“The bloodshed, I think most would agree, has simply gone on for too long. It has to stop”.
For their part, Saudi Arabia’s coalition partners, notably the USA and UAE, are likely to reduce their support for the Saudi campaign against the Houthi, instead diverting resources to fight the Sunni jihadists in south Yemen.
Cross-border attacks from Yemen have intensified since the suspension in early August of UN-brokered peace talks between the Shia Houthi rebels and their allies, and Yemen’s internationally-recognised government, which has the military support of a Saudi-led Arab coalition.
The US has backed the coalition with multi-billion dollar arms sales and provided logistical and intelligence support.
Zeid is now calling for an independent, worldwide investigation into the conflict.
Human rights groups have argued that USA forces may also be responsible under the rules of war for civilian casualties because of its support for the Saudi campaign. A number of United States politicians have also expressed concern about Washington’s role in the conflict.
Attacks by the Islamic State group, al-Qaida and other forces were believed responsible for the remainder of the deaths. Instead, the announcement of a new plan was greeted by rocket attacks from Al Houthi forces that struck well over the border, hitting a power station in Saudi Arabia.
More than 6,600 people, roughly half of them civilians, have been killed, while millions lack food, clean water and adequate healthcare. The two spoke briefly about the monarch’s health and an operation he had in the United States, apparently for back pain. It was not clear when the surgery was performed.
“We agreed on a renewed approach to negotiations with both a security and political track simultaneously working in order to provide a comprehensive settlement”, Kerry said.
Air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition are responsible for the deaths of some 60 percent of the 3,799 civilians killed since March 2015, and the country has committed other violations that may contravene worldwide law, the office said in a report.
A handout picture released by the Saudi Press Agency shows US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meeting with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (R) in Jeddah, on August 25, 2016.
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“This war needs to end and it needs to end as quickly as possible”. Mr Kerry is scheduled for talks with the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, in Geneva on Friday.
