In a statement on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said there is no Iranian military advisor in Yemen to be killed by the invaders’ bombardments.

The statement came after Moammar Al Eryani, minister of information in the resigned government of Hadi, claimed that an Iranian military expert named Haidar Sirjan along with nine others, was killed during an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition forces in Serwah, Marib. The alleged killing of the Iranian expert, Al Eryani claimed, “confirms [the] level of Iran involvement & destabilizing role to Yemen security & stability.”

He alleged on Twitter that Sirjan “is specialized in infantry & mountain infantry, & in preparing tactical combat plans served on the West Coast fronts until June 5, 2021, and on June 7 he was dispatched to Marib fronts to replace the deceased Mustafa Al-Gharawi of Lebanese Hezbollah.”

Al Eryani also accused Iran of sending “hundreds” of military experts to Yemen, leading military operations on the ground, and smuggling various types of weapons. He also called on the international community to take a “firm stand” against Iran.

Khatibzadeh strongly rejected these accusations. “Such baseless remarks will not change the reality on the ground in Yemen about the cowardly attacks of the self-proclaimed coalition against the oppressed people of Yemen and their determination to face the aggression,” he noted.

The spokesman expressed regret that those individuals who consider themselves Yemenis are now encouraging and backing the aggressors in their oppression caused by the blockade and war against the people of their own country.

Iran has long called on Saudi Arabia to end its aggression against Yemen and let the Yemenis determine their future. But Saudi Arabia paid no attention to Iran’s calls. And it is still pursuing a military solution to the Yemen crisis, according to previous remarks by Khatibzadeh.

In the current month Khatibzadeh expressed regret that Saudi Arabia still pursues a military solution to the Yemen crisis, saying that this approach will result in nothing other than death and destruction.

Khatibzadeh urged Riyadh to abandon the military solution and instead seek political ways to put an end to the devastating war in Yemen.

Speaking at a weekly press briefing, the spokesman said, “It is unfortunate that the Saudi government is still looking for a military solution for Yemen although it knows and it has understood after a long time that war has no other result than killing innocent and civilian people and harming the nations of the region and the security of the region.”

He added, “The sooner the Saudi government shows its commitment to political solutions and ends this devastating war, the better for both this country and the region, and the peace and security of the region.”

Responding to a question about the talks with Saudi Arabia and their latest status and whether Riyadh is waiting for the formation of a new government in Iran, he said, “Talks with Saudi Arabia have been held in several rounds on bilateral, regional and international issues and important questions for both sides. Important questions were brought up for discussion for both sides.”

“We, in Iran, think that in a way based on dialogue and settlement of issues between us, we can reach a common view on some issues. Of course, differences between the two countries, as the case with many other countries, do not need to be resolved in one place and may never be resolved,” Khatibzadeh pointed out.

He added, “But we think that if Saudi Arabia pays due attention to the message of the Islamic Republic of Iran that our region is a region that only regional arrangements between the countries of the region can bring it to a comprehensive and lasting solution, we think these talks will arrive at a good point.”

The spokesman also voiced Iran’s readiness to cooperate with the new UN envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg.

“As the Islamic Republic of Iran, we have had extensive cooperation with the United Nations, and we will certainly continue to work closely with the UN Special Representative, who is a well-known figure to us,” Khatibzadeh said.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has named Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg as his new Yemen envoy after a delay of several weeks as China considered whether to approve the appointment, which needed the consensus of the Security Council.

The 15-member council approved Grundberg as a replacement for Martin Griffiths, who became the UN aid chief after trying to mediate an end to the conflict in Yemen for the past three years, according to an Al Jazeera report.

Khatibzadeh expressed hope that the new UN envoy would be able to put an end to the Yemen war in line with international law, previous agreements, and honoring the Yemeni people’s rights.

“We hope that the new envoy will be able to end this devastating war within the framework of international law and previous agreements and respect for the rights of the Yemeni people, and we will certainly do our best to help the new envoy,” Khatibzadeh noted.

He added, “Of course, it is natural that the change of envoy will not be fruitful in itself unless it is accompanied by a change of approach in the countries that are currently at war with the Yemeni people, whether countries that are directly at war with the Yemeni people or countries such as Britain, which exploit this situation and continue to sell their weapons to the aggressor countries.”

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According to the Yemeni news agency Saba, the prime minister once again congratulated the leadership, government, and people of Iran on the successful holding of the June 18 presidential election, saying this has a great impact on the region, especially the axis of resistance.

Ibn Habtoor pointed out that the axis of resistance and its positive achievements are in the interest of the Islamic Ummah and its crucial issues.

He stated that all the supporters of the axis of resistance are in a single stronghold and their common goal is to resist U.S. plots in the region and a wave of normalization of relations with the Zionist regime.

The prime minister appreciated Iran’s position in condemning brutal aggression against his country.

For his part, the Iranian ambassador praised the historical and fraternal relations between Yemen and Iran and said Tehran will stand by the Yemeni people until a just and comprehensive peace is established in the country.

He pointed out that there are two axes in the world, one is the “axis of resistance,” and the other is the “axis of mercenaries.”

“Iran and Yemen are the main partners in the axis of resistance, and the endurance of the legendary resilience of the Yemeni people for seven years against aggression and siege is a miracle that the Arab and Islamic ummah is proud of,” the ambassador stated.

Irlo also stressed Iran’s continued support for Yemen in various fields, including education, economics, health, and humanitarian assistance.

Several officials from the Yemeni National Salvation Government, including Jalal al-Rawishan, Deputy Prime Minister for Security and Defense Obaid bin Dhabi, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Ghazi Ahmad Ali, Minister of Technical and Vocational Education, and other ministers and officials were present in the meeting.

Over the years, Saudi Arabia’s blockade of Yemen has been widely documented as the main reason behind the crisis. However, this policy of placing an entire region or country under siege or economic blockade did not originate from Riyadh. The U.S. was behind the move.

The situation has worsened dramatically with the coronavirus pandemic. According to the UN and aid agencies, official figures from the disease are underestimated. This is largely because of the lack of proper medical facilities. The real figure is believed to be much higher than what is being stated.

In April 2015, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif submitted a letter to Ban Ki-moon, then UN secretary general, outlining Iran’s four-point peace plan for Yemen.

The plan called for an immediate ceasefire and end of all foreign military attacks, humanitarian assistance, a resumption of broad national dialogue and establishment of an inclusive national unity government.

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The group, Humanity Eye Center for Rights and Development (EHCRD), has provided heart-wrenching statistics about the human casualties and economic damage Yemen incurred over the past 2,300 days since the start of the U.S.-backed Saudi aggression against Yemen.

Saudi Arabia has been entangled in one of its worst wars against Yemen since 2015 when it started an air raid campaign against its fellow Arab country with the alleged aim of eradicating the Iranian influence there. After years of bombardment, Saudi Arabia not only failed to oust the Ansarallah-led government, but it also was unable to prevent the Yemenis from mounting retaliatory attacks inside its territory. Facing a well-organized popular resistance in Yemen, the Saudis blamed their failure on Iran, accusing it of providing weaponry to its Yemeni allies.

The Saudi war on Yemen has also produced the worst humanitarian catastrophe ever seen in the region, with millions of Yemenis either unable to make ends meet or have died due to lack of food and medicine. Saudi Arabia has stubbornly refused to allow the entry of humanitarian aid into many Ansarallah-controlled territories, effectively using the humanitarian aid as leverage to put pressure on the Sanaa government and extract more concessions from it.

The Sanaa-based government has urged the Saudis several times to separate political issues from the humanitarian ones, only to face a Saudi insistence on blocking the flow of the much-needed aid into Yemen.
In addition, Saudi Arabia has continued its air raids and blanket bombardment on Yemeni targets without differentiating between civilian and military targets.

This approach has resulted in disaster in terms of the loss of human lives and economic infrastructures, according to the recent survey of EHCRD.

The human rights observatory said the Saudi aggression against Yemen has resulted in the loss of 17,176 human lives, including 3,842 children and 2,400 women. According to the survey, the total casualties of the Saudi war on Yemen stand at 43,891. This includes 17,176 people killed and 26,715 injured.

As regards economic damages, EHCRD indicated that the Yemen war proved devastating because it inflicted huge havoc on infrastructures, economic and service facilities. For instance, 575,353 civil houses were destroyed during the war. In addition, tens of thousands of other public facilities such as universities, mosques, hospitals, schools, airports, ports, roads, and bridges were damaged in the war. This puts the Yemen war at the top of the devastating wars in terms of civilian casualties and damages.

According to EHCRD, 15 airports, 16 ports, 308 power stations and generators, 553 telecommunication networks, 2,397 warehouses, and water supply networks, 1,983 government centers, and 5,224 roads and bridges were damaged.

As for economic damages, 396 factories, 352 fuel tankers, 11,479 commercial centers, 423 livestock and poultry farms, 7,945 means of transport, 472 fishing boats, 931 food stores, 397 fuel stations, 685 markets, and 858 food trucks were destroyed.

Service facilities also had their share of destruction with 575,353 homes, 179 university centers, 1,466 mosques, 369 tourism centers, 391 hospitals and health centers, 1,110 schools and training centers, 7,733 farmlands, 135 sports centers, 248 archaeological sites, and 49 media centers being damaged or destroyed as a result of the war.

The anti-Yemen coalition led by Saudi Arabia invaded Yemen in March 2015 to suppress the revolution in Yemen and prevent Ansarallah from gaining power, according to Fars News. Britain, France, the United States, Germany, and some Arab countries have all supported the coalition militarily and in supplying arms to keep the fire of unequal war, which officials say has been the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the world, still burning, the news agency reported.

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Mohammad Abdul Salam, the spokesman for Yemen’s Ansarallah movement, who accompanied the Omani delegation, said it would discuss ways to push forward the Yemen peace process.

In remarks to Al-Masirah TV, Abdul Salam said the delegation of the Royal Office arrived to discuss the situation in Yemen on the basis of the principle of good neighborliness and common interests.

He added, “We are working to advance the humanitarian situation arrangements process as well as the peace process.”

“To complement the efforts we have made in the Sultanate of Oman, we are today in Sanaa to discuss all that is of interest at the national level and the region in general,” Abdul Salam pointed out.

A day after the arrival of the Omani delegation in Sanaa, Omani Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik received a letter from the Saudi-backed president of Yemen, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, in what appeared to be an intensification of Oman’s diplomatic efforts to broker peace between Yemeni warring factions.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Hamad al-Busaidi received the message from Hadi’s Foreign Minister Ahmad Awad Mubarak.

The meeting reviewed developments of situations in Yemen and the UN efforts to end the war in a way that preserves unity and safety of Yemen, the Oman state news said, adding that the two sides reiterated the importance of enhancing cooperation with all parties to achieve security and stability for Yemen by supporting efforts of the UN and U.S. envoys.

Oman’s diplomatic efforts came after the U.S. and UN envoys for Yemen failed to make headway on the Yemen peace process. Martin Griffiths, the UN special envoy for Yemen, said in late May that he was frustrated over the lack of progress in the Yemen peace talks.

“Nobody can be more frustrated than I am,” Griffiths said. “We have spent a year and a half on things which are relatively simple to describe, the cease-fire, the opening of Sanaa airport, the opening of Hodeida ports, the much-delayed start of the political negotiations.”

Nearly a week later, the U.S. special envoy for Yemen also echoed similar frustration while blaming his failure on the Ansarallah movement. Tim Lenderking accused Ansarallah of refusing to engage meaningfully in the diplomatic efforts to “resolve a nearly seven-year conflict that has brought unimaginable suffering to the Yemeni people.” Lenderking added that the movement bears the major responsibility for not engaging in bringing about a cease-fire.

While the U.S. and UN Yemen envoys expressed dismay at the lack of progress in their efforts, Oman quietly stepped in to calm the situation, and it even made remarkable progress in this regard.

Abdul Salam, along with other Ansarallah figures, has been living outside Yemen since 2016 barred from returning to Yemen due to Saudi control over Yemen’s airspace. But Abdul Salam and his Yemeni comrades accompanied the Omani delegation, effectively breaking a Saudi travel ban on Yemen.

The return of Abdulsalam, which would have required a Saudi green light, indicated tangible progress in the Yemen peace talks led by Oman. It’s too early to speak of a final solution to the years-long Yemen war, but Oman’s renewed diplomatic efforts have revived hopes of breaking the deadlock over the war as Muscat enjoys having good relations with both Riyadh and Sanaa. In addition, Oman has a direct interest in putting an end to a devastating war between two of its neighbors.

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