Sunday Times 2
Iran presents Yemen peace plan to UN
View(s):SANAA, April 18 (AFP) -Iran presented a four-point peace plan for Yemen to UN chief Ban Ki-moon, demanding international action to end the “senseless” Saudi-led air campaign against rebels backed by Tehran.
Smoke billows during an air strike on the Republican Palace in Yemen's southwestern city of Taiz (REUTERS)
Saudi Arabia, for its part, responded swiftly to a UN aid appeal for its impoverished neighbour.
The Iranian call came as intense bombing by the regional coalition hit Yemen again and Al-Qaeda seized more ground in the chaos.
The Iranian proposal, submitted on Friday, calls for a ceasefire and immediate end to all foreign military attacks, the urgent delivery of humanitarian and medical aid, a resumption of political talks and the formation of a national unity government.
“It is imperative for the international community to get more effectively involved in ending the senseless aerial attacks and establishing a ceasefire,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote in a letter to Ban.
He said “the only way to restore peace and stability is to allow all Yemeni parties to establish, without any foreign interference, their own inclusive national unity government.” The Yemen conflict has sent tensions soaring between Saudi Arabia and its regional rival Iran — the foremost Sunni and Shiite Muslim powers in the Middle East, respectively.
Tehran is a key ally of the Shiite Huthi rebels who have seized swathes of Yemen but denies arming them.
Columns of smoke rose over an arms depot east of the capital Sanaa on Friday as Saudi-led warplanes unleashed fresh strikes, witnesses said.
The facility belonged to rebel army units loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh who have allied with the Huthis, whose sweeping advance forced President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to flee to Riyadh last month.
Aircraft from the regional coalition also hit the presidential palace in the southwestern city of Taez, witnesses said.
Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri said that “from this afternoon we have started operations in Taez”.
Speaking in Riyadh, he added that there had been 100 sorties in Yemen on Thursday, indicating there is no end in sight to the operation.
“This works needs patience, persistence and precision. We are not in a hurry… We have the time and we have the capabilities.”