UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to congratulate Yemen’s ceasefire and discuss talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.
Guterres was quoted by the government news website IRNA as saying that the two-month ceasefire announced for Yemen on Friday “a mutual success”, achieved through efforts by all involved parties.
Amir-Abdollahian in turn thanked Guterres for his role and insisted that now is the time to take “fundamental steps” toward peace and stability in Yemen, specially removing sanctions that impact humanitarian aid.
Referring to a Security Council resolution condemning aggression by the Houthi rebels, Iran’s foreign minister expressed his disappointment. Tehran has been supporting the Houthis who have been fighting Yemen’s legitimate government and a coalition led by Saudi Arabia that has intervened in Yemen since 2015.
Speaking about nuclear negotiations with world powers in Vienna, Amir-Abdollahian told Guterres that “we are close to an agreement and have submitted our proposals over remaining issues through the European Union’s negotiator to the American side and now the ball is in their court.”
After one year of indirect negotiations with Washington, Tehran’s last major demand is for the US to remove the Revolutionary Guard from its foreign terrorist list. The Biden administration has not made a decision yet on the issue as opposition to such a move has been gaining ground among American lawmakers.
