Iranian DFM
© UnknownDeputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian reiterated the country's position on the need to stop the Saudi-led attacks against Yemen, and stressed support for true national talks in the war-ravaged country.

Amir Abdollahian made the remarks in a telephone conversation with UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed on Thursday.

They also discussed the latest developments in Yemen on the threshold of Geneva meeting.

Appreciating the UN envoy's efforts to settle the crisis in Yemen, Amir Abdollahian said that Tehran has from the beginning rejected military approaches and has always underlined diplomatic means.

Tehran will continue encouraging effective and real Yemeni-Yemeni talks, he said.

Amir Abdollahian called for an immediate halt to the Saudi military aggression on Yemen concurrently with the upcoming Geneva peace talks scheduled to open next week.

Ahmed, for his part, appreciated Iran's contribution to diplomatic settlement of the Yemeni crisis, and urged all sides to help the talks achieve peace.

After several weeks of intensive consultations with the warring parties in Yemen, as well as with regional and international players, the United Nations Special Envoy for the country announced that the parties had agreed to open a series of talks in Switzerland on 15 December aimed at establishing a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire.

"We strongly believe that the only way to end the suffering of the Yemeni people and to rebuild confidence, trust, and mutual respect is through peaceful and inclusive dialogue," Cheikh Ahmed, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.

The Special Envoy said that both the government of Yemen, Ansarullah and other relevant parties have committed to participate in the talks, which he will chair and will also include eight negotiators and four advisors for each delegation. The talks are also set to secure improvements in the humanitarian situation and a return to a peaceful and orderly political transition.

He added that the aim is to develop a plan for the implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions, including a measure adopted in April 2015 which demanded that all parties immediately and unconditionally end violence and refrain from further unilateral actions that threatened the political transition.