On Monday, Gulf Arab states welcomed the announcement of a new commitment by warring parties in Yemen to observe a new ceasefire and work towards peace.
UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg © WEF
On Monday, Gulf Arab states welcomed the announcement of a new commitment by warring parties in Yemen to observe a new ceasefire and work towards peace.
The announcement made on Saturday by the United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, represents the latest effort to end a conflict that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
The poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula has been at war since Houthi rebels, supported by Iran, took control of Sanaa in 2014, triggering a subsequent military intervention led by Saudi Arabia in support of the government in the following year. A ceasefire brokered under the auspices of the UN significantly reduced violence in April 2022. The truce expired in October of the previous year, but large-scale warfare did not resume.
Saudi Arabia welcomed the announcement of a "roadmap to advance the path to peace." In a statement released on Monday, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs encouraged Yemeni parties to "come to the dialogue table to reach a comprehensive and lasting political solution under the auspices of the UN."
Oman also welcomed the announcement and expressed hope that an agreement "would be signed as soon as possible."
Qatar expressed its gratitude to the UN, Saudi Arabia, and Oman for their peace efforts while urging Yemeni parties to expedite the conclusion of an agreement.
The UN envoy announced on Saturday that he would now engage with the parties to establish a roadmap for moving toward peace.
The Yemeni government, supported by Saudi Arabia, applauded the UN's efforts on Sunday following the announcement of the new ceasefire.
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militants fired on Saudi oil installations in two ports on the Red Sea coast on Saturday, but the United States held back from launching air strikes on Iran itself for the first night in two weeks.
Yemen is edging towards the resumption of a more than decade-old frozen conflict, Yemeni officials, Western diplomats and analysts say, as attacks on Saudi infrastructure and shipping by Iran-aligned Houthis test the patience of the kingdom and the Yemeni government forces it backs.
Iran flew Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders, military advisers and missile- and drone-related equipment into Yemen this month, according to four sources, in a move that suggests Tehran is seeking to strengthen the ability of its Houthi allies to threaten Red Sea shipping.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.