Iran puts forward Yemen peace plan as Houthis suffer battlefield setbacks

April 14, 2015 | By hromedia | Reply More

Apr 14, – Iran proposed a peace plan for Yemen on Tuesday and called for an end to Saudi-led air strikes against Houthi rebels allied to Tehran, but the move was likely to draw a cool response from Riyadh.

On the battlefront, militiamen loyal to deposed President President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi said they had pushed back Houthi fighters at several points in southern Yemen, including districts of the port city of Aden, the focal point of a conflict that entered its most dangerous phase three weeks ago.

After prolonged street fighting, Houthi fighters withdrew from Aden’s Khor Maksar district, where the international airport and foreign missions are located.

The pull-out deprives the Houthis of a bridge to downtown areas where they face heavy resistance from local fighters.

Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Arab allies have been bombing the Houthis since March 25 to drive them from Aden, the most important city still loyal to Hadi.

The Houthis, northern-based Shi’ite Moslems, seized control of Yemen’s capital Sanaa in September, confining Hadi to the presidential residence. He fled to Aden in February then escaped to Riyadh last month as Houthi forces closed in on the city.

The conflict, though rooted in local rivalries, has become a proxy battlefield for regional powers Sunni-ruled Saudi and mainly Shi’ite Iran. Saudi Arabia and other powers accuse Iran of arming the Houthis and interfering in Yemeni affairs. Tehran denies giving military support to the Houthis.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, speaking in Madrid on Tuesday, put forward a peace proposal involving a ceasefire, humanitarian assistance, a dialogue between Yemeni factions, and a broad-based government.

“This issue should be resolved by the Yemenis. Iran and Saudi Arabia need to talk but we cannot talk to determine the future of Yemen,” he told a news conference.

Zarif also said the air strikes “are simply not the answer. All operations should end on land and from the air”.

On Monday, Zarif had called for a new government in Yemen and offered to assist in a political transition.

The offer was unlikely to please Riyadh, which says it is protecting Hadi and his government-in-exile from the Houthis.

But as the world’ largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia is also unhappy at the prospect of protracted upheaval in its southern neighbor.

Hadi and his Saudi backers also face fierce opposition from soldiers loyal to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has teamed up with his old foes the Houthis.

Al Qaeda, which has staged suicide bombings against the Houthis, also poses a threat to Yemen’s stability. The United States has poured aid and personnel into the country in recent years as part of its war on Islamist militants, but its military teams evacuated last month.

Nearby shipping lanes and the narrow Bab el-Mandeb passage, through which nearly 4 million barrels of oil are shipped daily to Europe, the United States and Asia, could also be at risk from the fighting.

Press journalist for HRO media – Khizer Hayat reports.