Yemen is the site of a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and Iranian media were the first to report on the Houthi claims coming out of Yemen.
Advertisement
U.S. secretary of state John Kerry and Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince, Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman, held talks in Jeddah on 25 August to discuss options to resume peace talks between warring Yemeni factions.
The UN brokered three months of peace talks in Kuwait but they were suspended earlier this month when the government reacted angrily to the rebels’ appointment of a new ruling council in Sanaa.
The plan offers Huthi rebels and their allies participation in a unity government but demands their withdrawal from Sanaa and other key areas, as well as surrendering heavy weapons to a third party.
According to the Saba news agency, the Supreme Political Council formed by the Houthis last month, expressed willingness to support any peace initiative if the Yemeni government and its allies stop all the military operations against the rebels.
He said Washington was “deeply troubled” by rebel attacks on Saudi territory, where more than 100 soldiers and civilians have been killed in cross-border bombardments and skirmishes.
United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Thursday called for an worldwide investigation into human rights abuses in the war-torn country.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the comments by Secretary of State John Kerry on a visit to Saudi Arabia on Thursday were “completely baseless”.
Following the Monday cluster bomb attack, the Yemeni army, which is backed by fighters from Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement, released footage of their retaliatory attacks against Saudi troops inside the kingdom.
The Yemen war has killed more than 6,500 people and displaced some 3 million.
Saudi-led coalition airstrikes were suspected of causing around half of all civilian deaths, while attacks by rebel-affiliated groups were blamed for around a quarter of deaths, it said.
Advertisement
Kerry told reporters that he voiced concerns to the Saudis about civilian casualties in Yemen.
